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This brilliantly colored, richly decorated circular panel presents a splendid vision of the arrival of the Magi, accompanied by a courtly entourage. A 1492 inventory of Lorenzo de' Medici's estate possibly identifies this picture as the most valuable in the collection of the powerful Florentine family, and attributes it to Fra Angelico. The Adoration of the Magi actually appears to be the product of two artists; Fra Angelico may only have started the altarpiece, the greatest part of the work having been taken up by Fra Filippo Lippi.

Fra Angelico was a Dominican known for his great monastic devotion; his saintly deportment is mirrored in the quiet piety of his paintings. The representation of the Virgin Mary here characterizes his style in the pure, simple form of her head and the gentle refinement of her features. Fra Filippo's earthy style appeals to the viewer in the portrayal of massive forms and well–articulated figures. In the Adoration, the richly attired wise men and their attendants, as well as the broad–faced Joseph beside the Virgin, are usually attributed to him.

While several elements of the painting can be seen as symbolic—for example, the peacock was considered a symbol of immortality—the Adoration can also simply be appreciated for its sparkling color, delightful details, and festive gaiety.

Object Data

Medium

tempera on poplar panel

Dimensions

overall (diameter): 137.3 cm (54 1/16 in.)

framed: 188 x 171.5 x 12.7 cm (74 x 67 1/2 x 5 in.)

Accession Number

1952.2.2

Artists / Makers

Fra Angelico (painter) Florentine, c. 1395 - 1455

Fra Filippo Lippi (painter) Florentine, c. 1406 - 1469

Image Use

This image is in the public domain.
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Detail Information

Provenance

Probably commissioned by a member of the Medici family, Florence; by inheritance to Lorenzo de' Medici [1449-1492], Florence.[1] probably Marchese Piero Guicciardini [1569-1626]; his widow, Marchesa Simona Machiavelli [1584-1658], Florence;[2] by inheritance to her great-nephew, Count Francesco Guicciardini [1618-1677], Florence; by inheritance to his son, Count Lorenzo Guicciardini [1652-1710], Florence; by inheritance to his son, Count Francesco Gaetano Guicciardini [1699-1780], Florence; by inheritance to his son, Count Lorenzo Guicciardini [1743-1812], Florence; by inheritance to his sons, Count Francesco [1776-1838] and Colonel Ferdinando [1782-1833] Guicciardini, Florence, in 1803;[3] sold July 1810 to Chevalier François-Honoré Dubois, Florence and Paris, as by Botticelli.[4] (Samuel Woodburn, London), by 1826, as by Fra Angelico.[5] William Coningham [1815-1884], London; (his sale, Christie & Manson, London, 9 June 1849, no. 34, as by Filippo Lippi).[6] Alexander Barker [c. 1797-1873], London, by 1851;[7] (his sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 6 June 1874, no. 42, as by Filippino Lippi);[8] purchased by (Giovanni Calvetti [d. 1875], London) for Sir Francis Cook, 1st bt. [1817-1901], Doughty House, Richmond, Surrey; by inheritance to his son, Sir Frederick Lucas Cook, 2nd bt. [1844-1920], Doughty House; by inheritance to his son, Sir Herbert Frederick Cook, 3rd bt. [1868-1939], Doughty House; by inheritance to his son, Sir Francis Ferdinand Maurice Cook, 4th bt. [1907-1978], Doughty House, and Cothay Manor, Somerset; sold February 1947 through (Francis A. Drey, London) to the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York, as by Filippo Lippi;[9] gift 1952 to NGA.

Exhibition History

1868
Possibly National Exhibition of Works of Art, Leeds, 1868, no. 7 or no. 17.
1875
Exhibition of Works by the Old Masters. Winter Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1875, no. 184, as The Adoration of the Infant Savior by Fra Filippo Lippi.
1909
National Loan Exhibition, Grafton Galleries, London, 1909-1910, no. 68, repro., as by Fra Filippo Lippi.
1919
Exhibition of Florentine Painting Before 1500, Burlington Fine Arts Club, London, 1919, no. 26 as by Fra Filippo Lippi (no. 26 and pl. XXVI in illustrated catalogue published 1920).
1930
Exhibition of Italian Art 1200-1900, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1930, no. 93, as by Fra Filippo Lippi (no. 106 and pl. XXXVIII in commemorative catalogue published 1931; no. 35 in souvenir catalogue).
1944
Masterpieces from the Cook Collection, Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio, 1944-1945, no. 16 (Cook collection catalogue number), repro., as by Filippo Lippi.
1945
Masterpieces of the Cook Collection, Art Gallery of Toronto (now Art Gallery of Ontario); National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, 1945, no cat.

Bibliography

1951
Einstein, Lewis. Looking at Italian Pictures in the National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1951: 32-33, repro.
1951
Paintings and Sculpture from the Kress Collection Acquired by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation 1945-1951. Introduction by John Walker, text by William E. Suida. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1951: 42, no. 9, repro.
1952
Frankfurter, Alfred M. "Interpreting Masterpieces: Twenty-four Paintings from the Kress Collection." Art News Annual 16 (1952): 84, repro.
1956
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1956: cover and 60, repro.
1957
Shapley, Fern Rusk. Comparisons in Art: A Companion to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. London, 1957 (reprinted 1959): pl. 9, 106.
1959
Paintings and Sculpture from the Samuel H. Kress Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1959: 50, repro.
1959
Shapley, Fern Rusk. Early Italian Painting in the National Gallery of Art. Washington, D.C., 1959 (Booklet Number Three in Ten Schools of Painting in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.): 26, color repro.
1960
The National Gallery of Art and Its Collections. Foreword by Perry B. Cott and notes by Otto Stelzer. National Gallery of Art, Washington (undated, 1960s): 6.
1961
Walker, John, Guy Emerson, and Charles Seymour. Art Treasures for America: An Anthology of Paintings & Sculpture in the Samuel H. Kress Collection. London, 1961: 25-28, repro. pl. 19, color repro. 20-21.
1962
Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. Treasures from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1962: 12, color repro.
1963
Berenson, Bernard. Italian Pictures of the Renaissance. Florentine School. 2 vols. London, 1963: 1:16.
1963
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish): 76, repro.
1965
Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 8.
1966
Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. A Pageant of Painting from the National Gallery of Art. 2 vols. New York, 1966: 1:24, color repro.
1966
Shapley, Fern Rusk. Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: Italian Schools, XIII-XV Century. London, 1966: 95-97, fig. 259-261.
1968
Gandolfo, Giampaolo et al. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Great Museums of the World. New York, 1968: 11, 23-24, color repro.
1968
National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 2, repro.
1972
Fredericksen, Burton B., and Federico Zeri. Census of Pre-Nineteenth Century Italian Paintings in North American Public Collections. Cambridge, MA, 1972: 9, 107, 647.
1975
European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 12, repro.
1975
Marchini, Giuseppe. Filippo Lippi. Milan, 1975: 15, 17, 25, 26, 27, 98, 205-206, cat. 27, figs. 47-49.
1975
Ruda, Jeffrey. "The National Gallery Tondo of the Adoration of the Magi and the Early Style of Filippo Lippi." Studies in the History of Art vol. 7 (1975):6-39, repro.
1978
King, Marian. Adventures in Art: National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1978: 20, pl. 2.
1979
Shapley, Fern Rusk. Catalogue of the Italian Paintings. 2 vols. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1979: 1:10-13; 2:pl. 7, 7B,C,D.
1979
Watson, Ross. The National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1979: 19, pl. 3.
1980
Ragghianti, Carlo L. “Galleria di Washington.” Critica d’Arte 45, nos. 154-156 (1980): 217, fig. 16.
1982
Alsop, Joseph. The Rare Art Traditions: The History of Art Collecting and Its Linked Phenomena Wherever These Have Appeared. Bollingen series 35, no. 27. New York, 1982: 397, 403, fig. 81.
1984
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 84, no. 40, color repro.
1985
European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 19, repro.
1985
Wolk, Linda. "The Pala Baciadonne by Perino del Vaga." Studies in the History of Art 18 (1985):41, repro.
1986
Tozzini Cellai, Valeria. L’arte del Rinascimento: Filippo Lippi. Prato, 1986: 169, no. 42, as by Fra Filippo Lippi and Assistants.
1991
Kopper, Philip. America's National Gallery of Art: A Gift to the Nation. New York, 1991: 6, 189, color repros.
1991
Morandotti, Alessandro. "La fortuna collezionistica della pittura gotica e rinascimentale fra Ottocento e Novecento." In Mauro Natale, ed. Pittura italiana dal '300 al '500. Milan, 1991: 43, fig. 16.
1992
National Gallery of Art, Washington. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 15, repro.
1992
Padoa Rizzo, Anna. Benozzo Gozzoli. Catalogo completo. Florence, 1992: 7, 26, cat. 5, as by Filippo Lippi and Benozzo Gozzoli.
1994
Filippini, Cecilia, and Claudio Cerretelli. I Lippi: a Prato. Prato, 1994: 14-15.
1997
Mannini, Maria Pia, and Marco Fagioli. Filippo Lippi: Catalogo completo. Florence, 1997: 69, 123, cat. 48.
1997
Shaw-Eagle, Joanna. "Christ's Birth Gave Birth to Astounding Images: Gallery Glitters with holy Masterpieces." Washington Times (December 21, 1997): D5, repro.
1998
Bonsanti, Giorgio. Beato Angelico. Catalogo completo. Florence, 1998: 153, cat. 76, as by Fra Angelico's assistants with Filippo Lippi.
2003
Bonsanti, Giorgio. "Beato Angelico e gli inizi di Benozzo." In Enrico Castelnuovo and Alessandro Malquori, eds. Benozzo Gozzoli: Viaggio attraverso un secolo. Convegno Internazionale di Studi (Firenze - Pisa, 8 - 10 gennaio 1998). Pisa, 2003: 60, as by Filippo Lippi and Benozzo Gozzoli.
2003
Boskovits, Miklós, and David Alan Brown, et al. Italian Paintings of the Fifteenth Century. The Systematic Catalogue of the National Gallery of Art. Washington, D.C., 2003: 21-30, color repro.
2004
Danziger, Elon. "The Cook Collection: Its Founder and Its Inheritors." The Burlington Magazine 146, no. 1216 (July 2004): 444, 448, 457, repro.
2004
Hand, John Oliver. National Gallery of Art: Master Paintings from the Collection. Washington and New York, 2004: 20-21, no. 15, color repro.
2004
Nuttall, Paula. From Flanders to Florence: The Impact of Netherlandish Painting, 1400-1500. New Haven and London, 2004: 106.
2005
Christiansen, Keith, ed. From Filippo Lippi to Piero della Francesca: Fra Carnevale and the Making of a Renaissance Master. Exh. cat. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2005: 208.
2005
Kanter, Laurence, and Pia Palladino. Fra Angelico. Exh. cat. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2005: 282-283, fig. 90.
2006
Fahy, Everett. "Early Italian paintings in Washington and Philadelphia." The Burlington Magazine 148, no. 1241 (August 2006): 538, as by Benozzo Gozzoli and Filippo Lippi.
2007
Sale, J. Russell. "Birds of a feather: the Medici 'Adoration' tondo in Washington." The Burlington Magazine 149 (January 2007): 4-13, repro.
2013
Campbell, Stephen J. and Michael W. Cole. Italian Renaissance Art. New York, 2013: 248, 249, color fig. 9.19.
2015
Hui, Andrew. “The Birth of Ruins in Quattrocento Adoration Paintings.” I Tatti Studies in the Italian Renaissance 18, no. 2 (September 2015): 334-336, fig. 10.
2015
Verdon, Timothy. Beato Angelico. Milan, 2015: 369, fig. 245.
2018
Villa, Renzo. Beato Angelico. Pisa, 2018: 260.
2021
Nocentini, Serena, and Valentina Zucchi. "Benozzo, pittore fiorentino." In Serena Nocentini and Valentina Zucchi, eds. Benozzo Gozzoli e la Cappella dei Magi. Exh. cat. Palazzo Medici Riccardi, Florence, 2021: 16, fig. 2.

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