Details

Title

Adoration of the Magi

Artist/Maker

Benvenuto Tisi (Italian, 1481–1559)

Date

ca. 1534

Medium

Oil on panel

Dimensions

15 1/8 x 23 inches

Credit

Gift of the Samuel H. Kress Foundation

Accession #

58.44

On View

On View - Stent Family Wing, Level 2, Gallery 204

This intimately scaled painting shows a scene from the New Testament: three magi, sometimes referred to as wise men, and a crowd of onlookers flock to celebrate the birth of the infant Jesus Christ. The Madonna is seated in the center foreground, holding the Christ child, as Joseph stands behind her, silhouetted against the cave’s dark entrance. They are surrounded by the magi; a group of followers extends into the distant landscape. The artist, Benvenuto Tisi, articulated the figures with bright jewel tones and precise outlines.