In this early drawing by the artist, the Holy Family appears on a raised platform: the seated Virgin holds the blessing Christ Child on her knee and the pensive Saint Joseph stands at left. The Magi are grouped at the foot of the steps leading to the platform. On the horizon appear more knights, two watching shepherds are seen on the hill at left, and further spectators are perched on the top of a building that is lightly indicated at upper right. Fra Bartolomeo's composition was inspired by portrayals of the Adoration of the Magi made by Leonardo da Vinci and Sandro Botticelli, all characterized by a similar pyramidal grouping. The same composition was studied by the artist in a drawing in the Uffizi, Florence (inv. 452 E) and although this ambitious scene was never brought to completion as a painting, Bartolomeo's design was later reused with slight modifications by his follower Giovanni Antonio Sogliani for a panel now in Memphis (Brooks Museum of Art inv. 64.19, where it is attributed to Antonio di Donnino del Mazziere).
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Artwork Details
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Title:The Adoration of the Magi
Artist:Fra Bartolomeo (Bartolomeo di Paolo del Fattorino) (Italian, Florence 1473–1517 Florence) (?)
Date:ca. 1500
Medium:Pen and brown ink, over traces of black chalk
Dimensions:10-15/16 x 9-7/16 in. (27.8 x 24.0 cm)
Classification:Drawings
Credit Line:Bequest of Walter C. Baker, 1971
Object Number:1972.118.241
Marking: Blind stamp of Sir Thomas Lawrence (Lugt 2445); Ink stamp of John Spencer (Lugt 1530)
Nathaniel Hone (Irish)(according to Lawrence Gallery); Collection of Earls Spencer (British); Spencer sale Thomas Philipe (British), London, June 10–17, 1811, no. 644 (as Raphael); Sir Thomas Lawrence (British); Samuel Woodburn (British); his sale, Christie's, London, June 4–14, 1860, no. 738; Sir John Charles Robinson (British), 1860 (as Raphael); Spencer Compton, Earl of Wilmington (British); Christie's, London, Castle Ashby, Northhampton, May 1, 1959, no. 1
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Walter C. Baker Collection of Drawings," June 2–September 4, 1960.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Italian Renaissance Drawings from New York Collections," November 9, 1965–January 9, 1966.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Leonardo da Vinci and His Followers in the Collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art," March 5–June 7, 1981.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "15th and 16th Century Italian Drawings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art," February 16–April 17, 1983.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Drawings and Prints: Selections from the Permanent Collection," October 25, 2016–January 30, 2017.
Seventh Exhibition.. Lawrence Gallery, London, 1836, cat. no. no. 63, p. 22.
"The Vasari Society for the Reproduction of Drawings by Old Masters: part 10" first series (1905-15). The Vasari Society for the Reproduction of Drawings by Old Masters, 1914-1915, cat. no. no. 2, fig. no. no. 2, ill.
H. von der Gabelentz Fra Bartolomeo und die Florentiner Renaissance. 2, Leipzig, 1922, cat. no. no. 315, p. 135.
Bernard Berenson The Drawings of the Florentine Painters. 3 vols., amplified edition. Chicago, 1938, cat. no. 438.
Drawings by Old Masters. Exh. cat. London: The Royal Academy of Arts, Diploma Gallery. London: Royal Academy of Arts, 1953, cat. no. no. 50.
"Forthcoming Sales, Christie's" Burlington Magazine. April 1959, p. 159.
Christie's, London Review of the Year 1959 at Christie's. London, 1959, Refering to sale, May 1, 1859, fig. no. p. 8, p. 6, ill.
"[Drawings]" Time Magazine. Time Magazine, New York, June 13, 1960, fig. no. p. 92, p. 92, ill.
Claus Virch "The Walter C. Baker Collection of Master Drawings." in The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, vol. 18, no. 10, New York, June 1960, fig. no. inside cover, p. 313, ill.
Bernard Berenson, Luisa Vertova I disegni dei pittori fiorentini. 3 vols., Revised and enlarged. Milan, 1961, cat. no. 459H.
A. Hyatt Mayor, Daniel Wildenstein Centennial Loan Exhibition, Drawings and Watercolors from Alumnae and Their Families. Exh. cat. Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY, 1961, cat. no. no. 4, fig. no. no. 4, ill.
Claus Virch Master Drawings in the Collection of Walter C. Baker. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1962, p. 17, no. 6.
Jacob Bean Great Private Collections. Douglas Cooper, Macmillan & Co., New York, 1963, fig. no. p. 34, p. 34, ill.
Jacob Bean, Felice Stampfle Drawings from New York Collections, Vol. I: The Italian Renaissance. Exh. cat. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1965, p. 32, ill.
Jacob Bean Notable Acquisitions, 1979-1980: Drawings (Walter C. Baker Collection, and other sources). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1980, p. 47, ill.
Jacob Bean, Lawrence Turčić 15th and 16th Century Italian Drawings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1982, cat. no. 23, fig. no. 23, pp. 36-37, ill.
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