"The Adoration of the Magi"
Andrea Mantegna
Painted about 1500. Distemper (that is, pigments in animal glue) on linen, 19 1/8 inches high by 27 5/8 inches wide.
The head and shoulders of five adults, and the infant Jesus (held in Mary's arms), huddle within this dark, flat-toned painting. In the lower right quadrant is the bald head of a white-bearded man with furrowed brow and grimaced face, who extends a blue and white porcelain cup as he hunches over, a spotted brown fur collar draped over his embroidered white robe. Close behind him, in the upper right quadrant, is a black Moor in a leopard-skin turban trimmed with orange cloth. From his ears dangle long pendants of pearls and metal disks on fine gold chains reaching the collar of his blue blouse and the shoulders of his dark green cloak. He is open-mouthed, with his upper teeth and tongue showing, as if astonished, while he clutches a lidded urn figured with swirls of beige and brown that suggest stone.
Nearest the center of the painting, behind the bald-headed figure, is a man of about 40 with a soft brown beard, contemplative features, and eyes staring serenely forward. His white turban is surmounted by a worn, reddish fez, and his robe is scarlet with fur lapels the color of his beard. In his right hand, he extends a red vessel in the form of a flattened globe, with a turned wooden base and a silver bell-shaped cap. Just to the left and slightly above, the Christ child's gaze is arrested by this reddish object which appears to be lit from within.
His swaddling coming undone, so that one bare shoulder and arm, and two naked feet, stick out of the greyish-white linen, he leans forward, held aloft by his mother, and gestures with his right hand. Mary also inclines her head toward the glowing central object, but her smooth features and close-lidded eyes betray no emotion. She wears a golden-yellow cloth headdress that drapes around her neck to become a scarf, a faded red peasant's blouse bordered with black, and a plain dark robe. In contrast to her youthful appearance, an aged Joseph is behind her right shoulder, at the extreme left of the painting. He wears a close-fitting scarlet laborer's cap; his eyes are wrinkled--his silver hair and a trim grey beard encircle his round face, grey brows, and Roman nose.
Three halos, barely discernable against a featureless black background, appear behind the heads of Joseph, Mary, and the Christ child. The Holy Family, to the left, counterbalance the three kings to the right; at the center of the painting's flat, lusterless surface glows the light from the East.
The label reads: In the spirit of Renaissance humanism, Mantegna concentrates on the psychological interactions of the principal actors in this sacred drama. The close-up scheme of half-length figures, set before a neutral background and compressed within a shallow space, was created by Mantegna from his study of ancient Roman reliefs. This private devotional image may have been painted for the Gonzaga family, rulers of Mantua , who employed Mantegna as court painter.
The head and shoulders of five adults, and the infant Jesus (held in Mary's arms), huddle within this dark, flat-toned painting. In the lower right quadrant is the bald head of a white-bearded man with furrowed brow and grimaced face, who extends a blue and white porcelain cup as he hunches over, a spotted brown fur collar draped over his embroidered white robe. Close behind him, in the upper right quadrant, is a black Moor in a leopard-skin turban trimmed with orange cloth. From his ears dangle long pendants of pearls and metal disks on fine gold chains reaching the collar of his blue blouse and the shoulders of his dark green cloak. He is open-mouthed, with his upper teeth and tongue showing, as if astonished, while he clutches a lidded urn figured with swirls of beige and brown that suggest stone.
Nearest the center of the painting, behind the bald-headed figure, is a man of about 40 with a soft brown beard, contemplative features, and eyes staring serenely forward. His white turban is surmounted by a worn, reddish fez, and his robe is scarlet with fur lapels the color of his beard. In his right hand, he extends a red vessel in the form of a flattened globe, with a turned wooden base and a silver bell-shaped cap. Just to the left and slightly above, the Christ child's gaze is arrested by this reddish object which appears to be lit from within.
His swaddling coming undone, so that one bare shoulder and arm, and two naked feet, stick out of the greyish-white linen, he leans forward, held aloft by his mother, and gestures with his right hand. Mary also inclines her head toward the glowing central object, but her smooth features and close-lidded eyes betray no emotion. She wears a golden-yellow cloth headdress that drapes around her neck to become a scarf, a faded red peasant's blouse bordered with black, and a plain dark robe. In contrast to her youthful appearance, an aged Joseph is behind her right shoulder, at the extreme left of the painting. He wears a close-fitting scarlet laborer's cap; his eyes are wrinkled--his silver hair and a trim grey beard encircle his round face, grey brows, and Roman nose.
Three halos, barely discernable against a featureless black background, appear behind the heads of Joseph, Mary, and the Christ child. The Holy Family, to the left, counterbalance the three kings to the right; at the center of the painting's flat, lusterless surface glows the light from the East.
The label reads: In the spirit of Renaissance humanism, Mantegna concentrates on the psychological interactions of the principal actors in this sacred drama. The close-up scheme of half-length figures, set before a neutral background and compressed within a shallow space, was created by Mantegna from his study of ancient Roman reliefs. This private devotional image may have been painted for the Gonzaga family, rulers of Mantua , who employed Mantegna as court painter.
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