Adoration of the Magi

Il saggio è dedicato alla "lettura" dell'architettura nell'Adorazione dei Magi di Leonardo, dai disegni al dipinto,  secondo una impostazione specifica della Storia dell'architettura e alla luce delle nuove conoscenze emerse dal restauro dell'OPD. La riflessione sul ruolo dell'architettura nell'elaborazione della composizione può contribuire alla decifrazione dell'iconografia dell'opera.

Tema predilecto de los Medici y motivo frecuente en las capillas
mortuorias, en esta obra convergen la política, los negocios y la religión; las expectativas y ambiciones de un próspero intermediario bancario y las de un artista.
El Arte de Mirar, La Panera 56, diciembre 2014

This contribution is dedicated to an image depicting the Mother of God seated on a throne which regularly appears within compositions of the Adoration of the Magi. One of the most significant examples of this image is preserved on a sixth-century ivory at the British Museum which depicts Mary surrounded by three magi and an angel. Following the analysis of this ivory, this paper argues for the existence of a self-standing iconographic type of the Virgin during the Early Byzantine period. This type, which is characterized by a number of distinguishing features, has not previously been brought to light or given thorough consideration in art historical scholarship, nor had it been given a specific name. The rich material evidence for this kind of Marian representation, gathered together and systematically analyzed in this paper, would expand the range of late antique iconographies of the Mother of God. In addition, this contribution aims to highlight core similarities between the Byzantine image under discussion and several Romanesque apse decorations. It will be argued that these similarities serve as a testimony to a transition between singular visual modes and the migration of Marian imagery from the East to the West, processes which remain otherwise unattested in written sources.

This paper argues that the invention of the classical ruin in late-Quattrocento Nativity and Adoration paintings is a symbolic gesture imbued with theological meaning and historical self-awareness. The appearance of the ruin in the event of the birth of the Messiah not only underscores broken architecture’s potent force in the realm of Christian imagination, but also stands as a testament to the ruin’s evocative powers as a sign of an ancient achievement that had been, as the Renaissance humanists saw it, ignored until their own epoch. Though often noted in the standard iconography and specialized monographs, the Adoration ruin has been understudied as a wider cultural phenomenon.  By examining some of the most celebrated examples—in particular those of Sandro Botticelli, Fra Filippo Lippi, Domenico Ghirlandaio, and Francesco di Giorgio Martini—I will show how classical ruins are an index of the rise of historical consciousness about the period’s ruptured relationship to the antique past. 

These painters deployed an entire array of humanist learning—from the rediscovery of Vitruvius’ treatise on architecture to the invention of perspective, from biblical citations to classical forgery, from the medieval exegetical tradition to Florentine Neoplatonism—into the scene of the birth of Christ in order to re-think the relationship between Christianity and antique culture. The following pages will show how with the rediscovery of antiquity in the Quattrocento, these Renaissance artists conflated the birth and life of the Christ story with the period’s own conception of itself as one of rebirth.

The traditional understanding of Matthew 2:9 leads to a type of Christian mysticism concerning the Star of Bethlehem. There is another way of reading the text which avoids some of the problems associated with the main historical understanding of the story.

Nell’ambito di un progetto di ricerca post dottorato incentrato sulla produzione sacra e seriale di Paolo Veronese e in particolare sui dipinti con il miracoloso incontro di Cristo e il Centurione di Cafarnao, ho rintracciato documenti utili a datare ante 1572 l’Adorazione dei Magi di Chatsworth, il Centurione di Kansas City, l’Adultera di Chabarovsk di Paolo Veronese. Le opere appartenevano a Matteo Calergi q. Vettor e furono lasciate per disposizione testamentaria in eredità al figlio Vettore e alla figlia Franceschina. Il ritrovamento di queste carte inedite consente di gettare nuova luce sui rapporti di Veronese con la famiglia veneto-cretese dei Calergi e invita a tenere ben presente la politica matrimoniale del patriziato nelle ricerche sulla committenza.
Infine, il documentato rapporto tra il Calergi e Veronese e alcuni legami iconografici tra il Cristo e il Centurione di Kansas City e il Trittico di Modena di El Greco, gettano nuova luce sulla presenza di quest'ultimo a Venezia e sul possibile ruolo di mediazione, se non direttamente di committenza, svolto da Matteo Calergi anche nei confronti del pittore cretese.


While I was working on my post doc research project about Veronese's sacred painting, I came across the serial subject of Christ and the Centurion. In order to find out the patrons of these paintings I consulted several archives, including the Calergi archive in Venice. Among these papers I found unpublished documents concerning the above-cited paintings and I also discovered a new date (ante 1572) and their patron: Matteo Calergi q. Vettor. This finding can help us define Veronese’s relationship to this particular Cretan-patrician family in Venice, as well as the central role of weddings and dowries in identifying suitable patrons.
Finally, Matteo Calergi’s Venetian patronage makes us consider the possibility of his direct interaction with the cretan painter El Greco.

The fist-hand results on Leonardo's technique coming from the analyses carried out on the Adoration of the Magi, currently under treatment at the Opificio delle Pietre Dure in Florence. A scientific systematization and some art-history openness.

A red Jew or why the character in Bosch’s Epiphany is not the Antichrist

The character present in the stable of the Epiphany in Prado Museum – traditionally identified as the Antichrist – is the best link between Flemish Art and the historical legend of the red Jew.
Bosch uses a red shade to portray the unbelieving Jew who would not uncover in the presence of God, colouring his hair, clothes, even his skin, with this shade. When the Epiphany is painted, at the end of the 15th c., the “red danger” – an ethnic variety of Judaism – has spread all over Europe.

This peculiar religious group, originating in Gog’s and Magog’s apocalyptic lands would have been absorbed by the Ottoman Empire after the conquest of Constantinople in 1453.
During the second half of the 15th c., some artists in the Northern Flanders provinces depict any representative of the Hebrew nation in red, due to a fin de siècle terror that spreads around Flanders and Germany.

The Flemish artist starts a trend that would use a red shade to depict the unbelieving Hebrew. This is particularly popular in Southern Flanders art, where Jews are fully portrayed in red. Painters of Northern Flanders include a red badge in the yellow outfit instead. Due to traditional iconographic loans between the Hebrew and the Devil, the latter is dressed up in red, although none of the above-mentioned images depicts the Antichrist.

Resumen:
La mejor relación entre la pintura flamenca y la leyenda histórica de los judíos rojos, se logra en este personaje que asoma por el establo de la Epifanía del Museo del Prado, tradicionalmente identificado con el Anticristo.

El Bosco tiñó de color bermejo al judío incrédulo que no se descubre ante la divinidad. Tonalidad que ocupa el pelo, las ropas y hasta la piel. A fines del s. XV, cuando este artista de Bolduque pintó la tabla, el peligro rojo se había extendido por toda Europa. Esta peculiar etnia judía, procedente de las tierras apocalípticas de Gog y Magog, había sido absorbida por el Imperio Turco tras la conquista de Constantinopla en 1453. En la segunda mitad del s. XV, debido al terror finisecular que se despertó, algunos artistas del Norte de Flandes comenzaron a colorear de rojo a los representantes del pueblo hebreo. Tras el maestro de Bolduque el tono bermejo se impuso de forma generalizada en la imagen de los judíos, especialmente en las escuelas del Sur de Flandes, que los coloreó así en su totalidad. Los centros pictóricos del Norte, optaron por añadir un distintivo rojo en sus prendas junto al preceptivo color amarillo. Debido a los tradicionales préstamos iconográficos entre el hebreo y el diablo, éste último vistió también de colorado; aunque hay que informar que ninguna de las imágenes citadas corresponde al Anticristo.

This document is a summary of several symbolic royal celestial events in the years near the birth of Jesus. 

In the ancient world, Jupiter was thought of as the "king planet" and Regulus as the "king star." Regulus had been spoken of a the "king star" since Sumerian times (over 2,000 years previously). The star's name was LUGAL, the Sumerian word for king. The Parthians, who ruled in Babylonia and the Iranian Plateau, minted the coins with the Moon and Regulus together as a royal symbol. While everyone knew that Jupiter was a planet, it was also a "star." In most Babylonian astronomical documents the planet was called MUL.BABBAR, meaning "the White Star."

The presence of the sun and moon has messianic significance through Ps. 89:35-37. The entire early part of the Psalm is messianic up to verse 37. The Jewish names of the planets were also important. Venus / Nogah means "brightness" and Jupiter / Sedeq means "righteousness." The "Righteous One" was a name commonly used concerning the promised King / Messiah.

MUL.BABBAR The White Star Over Bethlehem is a historical novel about the wise men and the Star of Bethlehem. The book places Dwight Hutchison's theory of the star into a historical context. There are about 400 pages of the main text and an additional 60 pages of appendices. The book begins with a prophetic  section before the main text of the story about the star.

Acceder al Paraíso tras el Juicio Final y contemplar el rostro de Dios era el anhelo que en la Edad Media compartían papas y monarcas, miembros de la nobleza y la incipiente burguesía, que idearon el modo de anticipar ese feliz instante a través del arte. Así, las figuras de los donantes se inmiscuían en ciertos episodios bíblicos empleando distintas argucias figurativas para lograr la Visión beatífica. Su presencia en Crucifixiones, Anunciaciones, ante Vírgenes y, especialmente, emulando a los Reyes Magos, no busca sino la epifanía, el momento de contemplación de la divinidad prometido en el Más Allá, pero mostrado en un presente en el que se mezclan las dinámicas terrenales y las espirituales. Este libro da cuenta de esta asombrosa multiplicación de los donantes en las artes visuales y las migraciones de sentido que se unen a sus ideales en el marco de la iconografía cristiana, teniendo en cuenta la progresión y las oscilaciones de una temática que nos lleva de las efigies idealizadas y esporádicas de los donantes en los primeros siglos del Cristianismo y en el románico a un crecimiento exponencial durante el gótico, marcado por una cada vez más fuerte individualización de los personajes. Este ambicioso recorrido, guiado a través de más de 450 imágenes, nos trasladará a uno de los episodios más recurrentes y a la vez más desconocido en el arte del Occidente medieval.

Il fatto che quest'anno ricorrano ben 1700 anni dall'editto di Milano, emanato da Costantino I il Grande nel 313, ha riacceso l'interesse nei confronti delle testimonianze artistiche afferibili al periodo in questione; una grande mostra, infatti, ha celebrato questo anniversario, includendo una notevole quantità di manufatti, documenti storico-artistici di un cambiamento epocale 1 .

The iconographic representation of the Nativity is constant throughout the history of Christianity. In early times, the theme construction follows the setting of the feast of Christmas, but develops into two main themes: the Byzantine theme, centered on the childbirth with Mary lying and a duplicate Infant Jesus, bandaged and in the bath; the Western theme of worship, after the mystery of birth without pain, with Mary kneeling beside the shining Infant. The theme of the Adoration of the Magi, who in the early days of Christianity predominated over the representation of the Nativity, and the Adoration of the Shepherds later are complementary themes of the birth of Christ.
Keywords: Christmas; Nativity, Adoration of the Magi; Adoration of the Shepherds

Resumo: A representação iconográfica do tema da Natividade é constante ao longo da história do Cristianismo. Nos primeiros tempos, a construção do tema acompanha a fixação da festa do Natal, mas desenvolve-se em dois temas principais: o tema bizantino, centrado no parto, com Maria deitada e o Menino duplicado, enfaixado e no banho; o tema ocidental da adoração, após o mistério do nascimento sem dor, com Maria ajoelhada junto ao Menino
resplandecente. O tema da Adoração dos Magos, que nos primeiros tempos do Cristianismo predominou sobre a representação da Natividade, e posteriormente a Adoração dos Pastores são temas complementares da Natividade.
Palavras-chave: Natal; Natividade; Adoração dos Magos; Adoração dos Pastores""

A recently discovered icon by George Klontzas (c.1530-1608), The Sacrifice of Abraham and the Adoration of the Magi.
While researching for El Greco's early paintings, I came across Pergola's article "Un Greco giovanile" in Emporium, 1952. Clearly, however, this was not a painting by El Greco but instead by George Klontzas. The painting, which is in fact the side of a triptych wing, emerged in a Milanese collection a couple of years later. It shows the allegorical juxtaposition of an Old Testament event, the Sacrifice of Abraham on the upper half and the New Testament of Adoration of the Magi in the lower part. Correctly identified, the small picture was sold at Dorotheum in Vienna, Austria, on 23 October 2018 for 37,500 Euro against pre-sale estimates of 20,000-30,000 Euro.

Thèse de doctorat d'italien, sous la direction d'Anna Fontes-Barato, université Sorbonne Nouvelle-Paris 3. Soutenue le 24 novembre 2012 Giulia Puma 1 Cette thèse porte sur l'iconographie de la Nativité du Christ dans la peinture italienne médiévale, avec un ensemble de trois cents images incluant les petits retables destinés à la dévotion privée comme les grands cycles de fresques. L'enquête commence autour de 1250 par les productions des peintres qui précédèrent Giotto et Duccio et s'achève autour de 1450, avec les oeuvres de Beato Angelico et Filippo Lippi. L'objectif est d'étudier l'évolution de chacune des figures constitutives de la scène-Marie, Jésus, Joseph, l'âne et le boeuf, les bergers, les sages-femmes, etc.-et surtout de la scène comme ensemble, à partir du motif figuratif du personnage agenouillé en adoration, toujours plus fréquent dans la Nativité au cours de la période et symptomatique des usages dévotionnels de l'image dans l'Italie médiévale. 2 Le titre, « La Nativité italienne : une histoire d'adoration (1250-1450) », rend hommage à L'Annonciation italienne. Une histoire de perspective (Paris, 1999) de Daniel Arasse ainsi qu'à sa démarche. Absent de l'iconographie de la Nativité jusqu'à la toute fin du Duecento, le geste de l'adoration-la position de prière qui consiste à se tenir à genoux les mains jointes, appelée genuflexio recta-y devient, en l'espace de quelques décennies à peine, un motif courant pratiqué aussi bien par Marie que par Joseph, les anges, les bergers, voire l'âne et le boeuf. L'hypothèse qui préside à ce travail est que ce geste dévotionnel, employé par les peintres comme outil figuratif, acquiert à l'égard de la Nativité une efficacité heuristique comparable à celle de la perspective pour l'Annonciation. Ainsi, si

Σύμφωνα με το Κατά Ματθαίον Ευαγγέλιο και την Εκκλησιαστική παράδοση μετά την γέννηση του Ιησού Χριστού εμφανίστηκαν σ’ αυτόν Μάγοι «από την Ανατολή» και Τον προσκύνησαν, προσφέροντας σ’ Αυτόν δώρα. Ποιοι, όμως, ήταν οι Μάγοι, πόσοι ήταν, ποια δώρα έφεραν μαζί τους και τι συμβολισμούς κουβαλάνε στην εκκλησιαστική παράδοση;

Al llarg del període gòtic, el contingut de l'Adoració dels reis mags es va fondre amb l'esbós gràfic d'altres adoracions de la divinitat prota-gonitzades pels donants, segons he pogut remarcar ja en diversos treballs precedents. 2 El valor primigeni de l'episodi epifànic es va sobreposar a obres diverses, que s'apropiaren molt hàbilment del sentit de l'esdeveniment de la Infància de Crist. 3 Ja en els primers segles del cristianisme, sovint en context funerari, els Mags van simbolitzar la humanitat que reconei-xia Déu en el Nen Jesús. Pas a pas, aquests reis savis es van convertir en un model insubstituïble per als creients, que van adoptar el posici-onament d'unes figures que evolucionen diferenciades, primer per edat i després també per vestuari, raça o procedència. 4 Aquests plantejaments 1 Aquest treball de recerca forma part d'un estudi més extens que es podria relacionar amb diversos projectes d'investigació I+D que he coordinat com a directora del Grup de recerca consolidat EMAC Romànic al Gòtic (BHA2001-3664; 2005GR00124 i HAR2012-36307) al Departament d'Història de l'Art de la Universitat de Barcelona, encara que els seus resultats no es trobin supeditats estrictament a cap d'ells i tinguin, en canvi, una forta relació amb el nou projecte del grup HAR2017-85910-P (2018-2021), vinculat a les idees i iconografia del Judici i la Justícia. 2 Rosa Alcoy, "Acerca de algunas epifanías extemporáneas. La llegada al Otro Mundo y la Iconografía de los Reyes Magos", Boletín del Museo e Instituto "Camón Aznar", 27 (Saragossa, 1987), p. 39-65 3 He analitzat extensament aquestes qüestions i els múltiples exemples que les justifiquen en el llibre: Rosa Alcoy, Anticipaciones del Paraíso. Un estudio en torno a la migración del sentido en el arte del Occidente medieval,

Was the Renaissance global?

In this short film, Dr Leah Clark discusses a Renaissance painting by the Italian court artist Andrea Mantegna, which depicts the Adoration of the Magi. Mantegna provides us with one of the first representations of Chinese porcelain in a Western painting, underlining the global dimension to the work and its context. Dr Clark provides a close visual analysis of Mantegna’s painterly and compositional techniques, largely drawn from antique sculpture, but she also explains how the painting would have functioned on a number of levels: as a devotional work in a Christian context; as a showcase for the collections of the rulers of Mantua, Italy; and as a reflection of the global reach of diplomacy and trade in the Renaissance.