Adoration of the Magi
Bernardino Luini (c. 1480-1532) · 16th century (c. 1520-1525)
Under the roof of a wooden shelter, Mary sits at the right in blue and rose with the child on her lap, who raises his hand in blessing, while Joseph in red stands behind her. The eldest of the three kings, white-bearded and in an ermine-lined mantle, kneels with his hands joined, his gold vessel set on the ground beside him. Behind him the two younger kings wait with their gifts, one in green with a turban, the other dark-skinned in a yellow robe and a white turban. Through the openings at the back, the kings' retinue with horses and camels winds down the hills.
The fresco, painted in the early sixteenth century, was detached around 1810 at the request of the Milanese nobleman Antonio Maria Litta Arese and mounted in the Palazzo Litta in Milan with its companions, the Nativity and the Blessing Christ, which hang beside it. Luini absorbed the soft shading and gentle types of Leonardo, who worked in Milan in Luini's youth, and turned them into a clear, popular style that made him the city's favourite painter. The Litta heirs sold the group, and the Louvre acquired the frescoes in the eighteen-sixties.
Did You Know? The gifts of the kings are painted as real Renaissance goldsmith's work, with lidded vessels set on the ground.
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