The Adoration of the Magi (1480) by Filippino Lippi, Matthew 2:1-12, Bible.Gallery
Artwork Description
In all likelihood this brilliant painting, dazzling with color and movement, is the one that was inventoried in 1492 after the death of Lorenzo de’ Medici, “il Magnifico,” Florence’s equally brilliant leader. At 100 florins, it was the most valuable painting in the palace and had probably been a treasured family possession for 40 or 50 years. The person who compiled the inventory believed that the tondo was the work of Fra Angelico (Florentine, c. 1395 - 1455), a favorite Medici artist. Scholars today, however, see more than one painter at work. The sweet delicacy of the Virgin’s face, for example, reveals the hand of Fra Angelico, who began his career as a manuscript illustrator, while the more robust figures of Joseph and the Three Kings point to his younger contemporary Fra Filippo Lippi. In 1438, Cosimo de’ Medici, Lorenzo’s grandfather, wrote that the two artists operated the most sought-after workshops in Florence. Probably, the panel was begun by Fra Angelico around 1440 but was left unfinished. After his death, some 20 years later, Fra Filippo, who had assumed the older artist’s mantle as Medici favorite, likely took up the commission. Other painters in the two artists’ busy shops may also have contributed.