XVII Century Adoration of the Magi Polychrome terracotta, 24 x 18 cm The present relief, made of terracotta that retains the original polychromy, depicts the famous episode in the life of Jesus from the Adoration of the Magi. According to the traditional iconography studied in the Middle Ages and consolidated in the 16th century, The Virgin, raised on a throne, holds the infant Jesus, while the eldest of the Magi, Balthasar kneels before him in reverence. Behind them, on the left, stand the other two Magi dressed in old-fashioned clothing and holding their gifts. On the right, however, is St. Joseph. An architectural backdrop, characterized by a sequence of classical-style arches, surrounds the shoulders of the characters, among whom a man on horseback, belonging to the procession of Magi, can also be seen. Serving as a model for the relief is surely the long Italian painting tradition that consolidated from the 16th century onward with the Venetians Titian (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna) and Veronese (National gallery, London), then the Bassanos, and thus spread to the rest of the peninsula, the motif of Baldassare kneeling and the virgin exhibiting the child, in outdoor settings but with large architectural pieces as a backdrop as in the present. The item is in good condition
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SILVER Seller in Milano, Italia
