TINTORETTO
(b. 1518, Venezia, d. 1594, Venezia)

The Adoration of the Magi

1582
Oil on canvas, 425 x 544 cm
Scuola Grande di San Rocco, Venice

The Adoration of the Magi was completed in July 1582 and was therefore the first of the canvases of this series in the Ground Floor Hall to be carried out.

Above and along the brick walls and the wooden planks, the episode unfolds frontally under bright light which makes the physical and emotional gestures of the Wise Men stand out. The harmonious night setting of the foreground gives way in the background on the right to the apparition of the procession of the Three Kings, broken up by traces of glowing light. The procession advances slowly from far-off lands guided by the star which has arrived directly above the Holy Child's head.