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About three dozen people gather in a grassy field to either side of a crumbling structure to kneel and pray before a woman and baby in the center of this horizontal painting. The woman, Mary, and baby, Jesus, have smooth, pale skin while the others have light or tanned skin. The structure has sand-colored stone pillars, a wooden triangular, pitched roof, and a straw floor. Mary, who has an elongated torso, sits facing us with her knees apart. She wears an azure-blue robe over a rose-pink dress. A shell-pink veil covers her head and body. Jesus sits on her left knee, his pudgy body angled to our left. He is nude except for a transparent cloth wrapped over one shoulder and the opposite hip. Mary’s left hand braces his torso. On Mary’s right, our left, Joseph, an older man, stands facing us. He clasps his hands at his chest and leans on a long stick. He has wrinkled skin, long, gray curly hair, and a full beard. Both Mary and Joseph tilt their heads to their right, our left, as they look down at Jesus. Joseph wears a golden yellow robe over a blue tunic. Joseph, Mary, and Jesus have faint gold halos. Behind them, a brown cow and gray donkey rest on the straw. People closest to Mary and Jesus kneel and bow their heads while the people to the left and right sides mostly stand. Three men kneeling closest to Mary and Jesus offer gifts, including a bronze vessel and a gold jar. One man has long dark brown hair and a beard, and wears a gold crown. Another man is bald with long gray hair and beard, while the third is cleanshaven with shoulder-length brown hair. These men wear robes in powder blue, carnation pink, or celery green with delicate silver and gold embelishments. Others in the crowd range in age from young and cleanshaven to older and bearded. They wear robes and tunics in shades of raspberry pink, butterscotch yellow, lapis blue, plum purple, or forest green. Several horses, their coats white or cinnamon brown, stand among the crowd, a few with riders. To our right, one horse rears its head and two others stand facing each other. Beyond the crowd, grassy green meadows and hills dotted with trees lead back to the horizon. A pale blue sky fills the top third of the composition.

The Adoration of the Magi

Sandro Botticelli

About three dozen people gather in a grassy field to either side of a crumbling structure to kneel and pray before a woman and baby in the center of this horizontal painting. The woman, Mary, and baby, Jesus, have smooth, pale skin while the others have light or tanned skin. The structure has sand-colored stone pillars, a wooden triangular, pitched roof, and a straw floor. Mary, who has an elongated torso, sits facing us with her knees apart. She wears an azure-blue robe over a rose-pink dress. A shell-pink veil covers her head and body. Jesus sits on her left knee, his pudgy body angled to our left. He is nude except for a transparent cloth wrapped over one shoulder and the opposite hip. Mary’s left hand braces his torso. On Mary’s right, our left, Joseph, an older man, stands facing us. He clasps his hands at his chest and leans on a long stick. He has wrinkled skin, long, gray curly hair, and a full beard. Both Mary and Joseph tilt their heads to their right, our left, as they look down at Jesus. Joseph wears a golden yellow robe over a blue tunic. Joseph, Mary, and Jesus have faint gold halos. Behind them, a brown cow and gray donkey rest on the straw. People closest to Mary and Jesus kneel and bow their heads while the people to the left and right sides mostly stand. Three men kneeling closest to Mary and Jesus offer gifts, including a bronze vessel and a gold jar. One man has long dark brown hair and a beard, and wears a gold crown. Another man is bald with long gray hair and beard, while the third is cleanshaven with shoulder-length brown hair. These men wear robes in powder blue, carnation pink, or celery green with delicate silver and gold embelishments. Others in the crowd range in age from young and cleanshaven to older and bearded. They wear robes and tunics in shades of raspberry pink, butterscotch yellow, lapis blue, plum purple, or forest green. Several horses, their coats white or cinnamon brown, stand among the crowd, a few with riders. To our right, one horse rears its head and two others stand facing each other. Beyond the crowd, grassy green meadows and hills dotted with trees lead back to the horizon. A pale blue sky fills the top third of the composition.

Details
Palette

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Medium
tempera and oil on poplar panel
Dimensions
painted surface: 68 x 102 cm (26 3/4 x 40 3/16 in.) overall size: 70 x 104.2 cm (27 9/16 x 41 in.) framed: 98.4 x 132.1 x 8.3 cm (38 3/4 x 52 x 3 1/4 in.)
Department
CIS-R
Holding institution
National Gallery of Art
Image provider
national-gallery-of-art
License
CC0-1.0
Credit
Andrew W. Mellon Collection

Art Genome Taxonomy

12 tags

Subject Matter

  • Bible Story Metadata · 100%

    The museum title is The Adoration of the Magi, and the catalog identifies Mary, Jesus, Joseph, and the three Magi offering gifts.

  • Deities and Holy Figures Both · 100%

    Mary and the infant Jesus form the central devotional group; the catalog identifies them explicitly, and faint gold halos are visible around Mary, Jesus, and Joseph.

  • Crowds Both · 100%

    About three dozen figures occupy the scene, including dense groups of kneeling, bowing, and standing worshippers on both sides of the central group.

  • Animals Both · 100%

    Several horses and mounted riders appear among the side groups, and the catalog also identifies a brown cow and gray donkey behind the central figures.

  • Landscapes Both · 98%

    Green meadows, wooded areas, hills, and a pale blue sky occupy the background beyond the architectural structure.

Visual Qualities

  • Emphasis on Linear Perspective Visual · 95%

    The columns, roof beams, and central architectural opening create strong receding lines toward the distant landscape.

  • Bright and Vivid Colors Visual · 98%

    Saturated blue, pink, green, yellow, red, and purple garments provide vivid color accents against the pale stone and blue sky.

  • Dense Composition Visual · 97%

    Numerous figures, animals, architectural elements, rocks, and landscape details produce a densely populated and visually intricate composition.

Medium and Techniques

  • Painting Metadata · 100%

    The museum classification identifies the object as a painting.

  • Tempera Metadata · 100%

    The catalog medium is tempera and oil on poplar panel, directly supporting the tempera technique category.

  • Oil Painting Metadata · 100%

    The catalog medium explicitly includes oil.

  • Oil on Panel Metadata · 100%

    The catalog specifies oil and tempera on a poplar panel, directly supporting oil-on-panel.

Source & rights

Sandro Botticelli. The Adoration of the Magi. Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington.

Catalog record ↗ Image source ↗ Image license ↗ Image-use terms ↗ Catalog metadata terms ↗

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