The '''Adoration of the Magi''' is a painting by the
Italian Renaissance painter
Filippino Lippi. It is signed and dated at 1496. It is housed in the
Uffizi of
Florence.
The panel was painted for the Convent of the San Donato agli Scopeti, in substitution of
the one commissioned in 1481 to
Leonardo da Vinci, who left it unfinished. In
1529 it was acquired by Cardinal
Carlo de' Medici and in 1666 it became part of the Uffizi collection.
Filippino Lippi followed Leonardo's setting, in particular in the central part of the work. Much of its inspiration was clearly derived from
Botticelli's ''
Adoration of the Magi'', also in the Uffizi: this is evident in the disposition of the characters on the two sides, with the Holy Family portrayed in the centre under. Similarly to Botticelli's work, Filippino also portrayed numerous members of the
Medici cadet line, who had adhered to the
Savonarolian Republic in the period in which the work was executed. On the left, kneeling and holding with a
quadrant, is
Pierfrancesco de' Medici. Behind him, standing, are his two sons
Giovanni, holding a goblet, and
Lorenzo, from whom a page is removing a crown.
The general style is that of Filippino's late career, characterized by a greater care to details and by a nervous rhythm in the forms, influenced by the knowledge of foreign painting schools (as also in the landscape of the background).
See also
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Adoration of the Magi (Leonardo)
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Adoration of the Magi of 1475 (Botticelli)
References
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Page at artonline.it