The ''Adoration of the Magi'' is a painting by the Italian Renaissance painter

Pietro Perugino Pietro Perugino (, ; – 1523), born Pietro Vannucci, was an Italian Renaissance Painting, painter of the Umbrian school, who developed some of the qualities that found classic expression in the High Renaissance. Raphael was his most famous pup ...

, housed in the Galleria Nazionale dell'Umbria of

Perugia Perugia (, , ; lat, Perusia) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber, and of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part o ...

, Italy. According to Italian art historian Vittoria Garibaldi, it was one of the earliest commissions received by Perugino around the end of his apprenticeship in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

(1472), while others date it to the late 1470s. The painting was originally executed for the church of Santa Maria dei Servi in

, connected to the Baglioni family; in 1543 it was moved to the church of Santa Maria Nuova in the same city.

Description

The scene follows a standard layout, with the nativity hut on the right and the visitors' procession, developing horizontally, on the left. On the background, behind the ox and the donkey, is a rocky, hilly landscape painted using

aerial perspective Aerial perspective, or atmospheric perspective, refers to the effect the atmosphere has on the appearance of an object as viewed from a distance. As the distance between an object and a viewer increases, the contrast between the object and its b ...

. The Virgin holds the blessing child on her knees, and behind her is St. Joseph, standing, with a stick. The oldest of the magi is already kneeled, while the other two are offering the gifts. The crowded procession includes figures which are common in Perugino's works, such as the boy with a turban and the blonde youngsters in elegant postures. The man on the extreme left is perhaps a self-portrait of Perugino.

Style

The Virgin and Child are reminiscent of Perugino's '' Gambier Parry Madonna'' at the

Courtauld Institute The Courtauld Institute of Art (), commonly referred to as The Courtauld, is a self-governing college of the University of London specialising in the study of the history of art and conservation. It is among the most prestigious specialist coll ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

,Page at the museum's website. Despite what written in the caption, it dates to the early 1470s
/ref> dating to the very early 1470s. In general, the scene's style is related to

Verrocchio Andrea del Verrocchio (, , ; – 1488), born Andrea di Michele di Francesco de' Cioni, was a sculptor, Italian painter and goldsmith who was a master of an important workshop in Florence. He apparently became known as ''Verrocchio'' after the ...

's workshop, where Perugino made his apprenticeship. The characters, forming a crowd typical of late-Gothic art, show a robust appearance seen in the works of Fiorenzo di Lorenzo, perhaps the earliest master of Perugino. The integration between the characters and the landscape is inspired to

Piero della Francesca Piero della Francesca (, also , ; – 12 October 1492), originally named Piero di Benedetto, was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. To contemporaries he was also known as a mathematician and geometer. Nowadays Piero della Francesca i ...

, such as the golden ratio tree; the landscape is similar to works by

Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially res ...

References

Sources

* {{Pietro Perugino Paintings by Pietro Perugino 1470s paintings Collections of the Galleria Nazionale dell'Umbria

Perugino Pietro Perugino (, ; – 1523), born Pietro Vannucci, was an Italian Renaissance painter of the Umbrian school, who developed some of the qualities that found classic expression in the High Renaissance. Raphael was his most famous pupil. Ear ...

Cattle in art