The Adoration of the Magi

c. 1600

Pier Francesco Mazzucchelli, called Morazzone

Artist, Lombard, 1573 - 1626

Five people gathered around a woman holding a nude baby boy fill this square painting. The woman is at the center of the composition with her head almost touching the top edge. She has pale skin, blond hair, and a gold halo painted as a single line. She looks down at the child she supports on her left knee, to our right. She wears a marine-blue robe over a raspberry-red dress. The child also has pale skin and blond hair. His cheeks are flushed, and he reaches forward with one chubby arm. The balding, light-skinned man kneeling in front of him and to our left holds out a gold, orb-shaped vessel. That man is bearded with white hair, and he wears a canary-yellow cloak over a leaf-green robe and pale brown, calf-high boots. A smaller person, also kneeling, holds a crown just behind the older man. That person and the two men who stand on the far side have pale, peachy skin. One of the standing men wears honey orange and forest green and a gold crown over his long brown hair. He holds up another vessel, this one bronze brown with gold fittings, out to another bearded, balding man standing behind the woman. To the right, a man with brown skin also wears a crown, holds a gold vessel, and has a cloak patterned with crimson red over pearl white. The underside of the cloak is laurel green, and this man appears to be barefoot. He stands facing away from us so only his cheek and one ear are visible as he faces the baby. A gray horse with a gold halter is behind the Black man in the upper right corner.

Media Options

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On View

West Building Main Floor, Gallery 27


Artwork overview


Artwork history & notes

Provenance

(Sale, L'Antonina, Rome, 11 May 1965, no. 459, as Bartolomeo Schedone). (Sale, Sotheby's, London, 6 December 1972, no. 84); (Maltzahn Gallery, Ltd., London). private collection, London, by 1974.[1] acquired c. 2000 on the Italian art market by private collection, Modena; acquired July 2015 by (Cantore Galleria Antiquaria, Modena); purchased 2016 by NGA.
[1] The painting was included in a 1974 exhibition in Birmingham, England, with this credit line in the catalogue.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1974

  • Lombard Paintings, c. 1595-c. 1630: The Age of Federico Borromeo, City Museums and Art Gallery, Birmingham, England, 1974, unnumbered catalogue, repro.

Bibliography

2003

  • Stoppa, Jacopo. Il Morazzone. Milan, 2003: no. OD[opere dubbie] 2, repro.

2016

  • Brown, David Alan. "Pier Francesco Mazzucchelli (called Morazzone), The Adoration of the Magi." National Gallery of Art Bulletin_ no. 55 (Fall 2016): 31, repro.

Wikidata ID

Q46624592


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