Logo_Tornabuoni_Arte_VETTORIALE ORO NEW copiaLogo_Tornabuoni_Arte_VETTORIALE ORO NEW copiaLogo_Tornabuoni_Arte_VETTORIALE ORO NEW copiaLogo_Tornabuoni_Arte_VETTORIALE ORO NEW copia
  • Collections
    • Paintings
      • Fondi oro
      • Renaissance and Mannerism
      • Baroque
      • Neoclassicism and 19th century
    • Sculpture
      • Middle Ages
      • Renaissance and Mannerism
      • Baroque
      • Neclassicism and 19th century
    • Furniture
      • Cabinets
      • Chest of drawers
      • Chests
      • Sideboard
      • Bookcases
      • Chairs
      • Tables
      • More
    • Objects
  • Catalogues
  • News
  • Video
  • About Us
  • Contacts
  • About Us
  • Contacts
  • English
  • Italian
✕

Meeting of the Three Wise Men

  • Home
  • Collections
  • Paintings Renaissance and Mannerism
  • Meeting of the Three Wise Men
BERNARDINO PINTURICCHIO, school of

d292

BERNARDINO PINTURICCHIO, school of

Perugia 1452 c.-Siena 1513

Meeting of the Three Wise Men

tempera grassa on canvas, cm. 265×158

 

This vast canvas features, set within a classical architectonic frame, an episode of the long journey which was to lead the Three Kings to the new-born Christ, to offer him their previous gifts: “Then Herod called for a private meeting with the wise men, and he learned from them the time when the star first appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also. After this interview the wise men went their way” (Matthew, 2 1 – 12).

The exhaustive study which accompanies the work, conducted by the Expertise firm of art experts, underscores that the unusual image, which refers to “the meeting of the Magi and the preparation of the procession in order to visit and render homage to the Saviour”, illustrates an event which is not described in the canonical Gospel and that “the iconographic sources are consequently to be found in the apocryphal texts and in the Armenian Infancy Gospel”. The fairy-tale atmosphere, the elaborate Oriental costumes, the way the figures stand close together according to spatial criteria that are still Medieval, bring to mind famous images of this scene, beginning with the famous Chapel of the Magi in Palazzo Medici in Florence, frescoed by Benozzo Gozzoli around the middle of the Sixteenth century.

However, as observed by the specialists of Expertise, this work is undoubtedly inspired by the frescoes painted by Pinturicchio and his circle at the Piccolomini Library in Siena, which celebrate the gesture of Pius II; it was realized in the later years of the first decade of the new century. Specifically, the architectonic frame, the balusters and capitals with grotesque decoration seem, as the experts point out, quotations from the work in Siena. However, the perspective with which the large arch is represented – and this is a particularly significant element – is unlike the fresco of reference not central, but based on a lateral vision. This detail reveals that it originally belonged to a cycle of canvases, evidently dedicated to the journey of the Magi, which most probably culminated, in the centre of a vast hall, in an Adoration of the Child.

The intriguing question of identifying the author, starting from the ventures of the great Umbrian master, is still open. The central-Italian character of the work appears to be combined – to judge from the castle in the upper part of the canvas which is outlined by a clear-cut light – with Northern echoes that waver between Mantegna and Bellini, and everything is rendered with an expressive, sometimes almost popular style which also seems to suggest a Flemish element.

 

Publications:

“Oltre. In viaggio con cercatori, fuggitivi, pellegrini”, exhibition catalogue edited by don Alessio Geretti, Casa delle Esposizioni di Illegio, Allemandi, Turin, 2016, p.155.

Share

In the same collection:

GIOVAN FRANCESCO PENNI

d90

March 3, 2022

Madonna with Child and Saint Dorothy


Read more
MASTER OF THE GREENVILLE TONDO

d287

March 4, 2022

Madonna with Child and angels


Read more
VENETIAN-CRETAN SCHOOL

d381

March 4, 2022

Adoration of the magi


Read more
JEAN COUSIN, KNOWN AS LE PÈRE

384abc

March 4, 2022

Announcing angel, Gideon, The conversion of Saul


Read more

Tornabuoni Arte – Arte Antica

We look forward to seeing you at the ground floor of the prestigious fourteenth-century building overlooking via Maggio. We host a rich collection of pieces from various eras and origins, both paintings, sculptures and furniture, from the Middle Ages to the 19th century.

Opening hours:

-Tuesday-Saturday
9.30 am - 1 pm / 2.30 pm - 7.00 pm

Contacts:

Address: via Maggio 40r, Florence - 50125
tel. +39 055 - 2670260
fax. +39 055 - 2678032 
mail. antichita@tornabuoniarte.it
© 2020 Tornabuoni Arte. Powered by meltin'Concept
Privacy PolicyCookie Policy
Disclosure requirements for public funding: State and De Minimis aids received by this company are published in the National Register of State Aids, pursuant to art-52 of Law 234/2012, and can be consulted by entering tax code field, the CF 04466800481
Direct Link

English
  • English
  • Italian
  • English
  • Italian