| Artist | Leonardo da Vinci |
|---|---|
| Year | 1481 |
| Type | oil on wood |
| Dimensions | 246 cm × 243 cm (97 in × 96 in) |
| Location | Uffizi, Florence |
The Adoration of the Magi is an early painting by Leonardo da Vinci. Leonardo was given the commission by the Augustinian monks of San Donato a Scopeto in Florence, but departed for Milan the following year, leaving the painting unfinished. It has been in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence since 1670.
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The Virgin Mary and Child are depicted in the foreground and form a triangular shape with the Magi kneeling in adoration. Behind them is a semicircle of accompanying figures, including what may be a self-portrait of the young Leonardo (on the far right). In the background on the left is the ruin of a pagan building, on which workmen can be seen, apparently repairing it. On the right are men on horseback fighting, and a sketch of a rocky landscape.
The ruins are a possible reference to the Basilica of Maxentius, which, according to Medieval legend, the Romans claimed would stand until a virgin gave birth. It is supposed to have collapsed on the night of Christ's birth (in fact it was not even built until a later date). The ruins dominate a preparatory perspective drawing by Leonardo, which also includes the fighting horsemen. The palm tree in the centre has associations with the Virgin Mary, partly due to the phrase 'You are stately as a palm tree' from the Song of Solomon, which is believed to prefigure her. Another aspect of the palm tree can be the usage of the palm tree as a symbol of victory for ancient Rome, whereas in Christianity it is a representation of martyrdom—triumph over death—so in conclusion we can say that the palm in general represents triumph. The other tree in the painting is from the carob family, the seeds from the tree are used as a unit of measurement. They measure valuable stones and jewels. This tree and its seeds are associated with crowns suggesting Christ as the king of kings or the Virgin as the future Queen of heaven, also that this is nature's gift to the new born Christ. As with Michelangelo's Doni Tondo the background is probably supposed to represent the Pagan world supplanted by the Christian world, as inaugurated by the events in the foreground.
Much of the composition of this painting was influenced by an earlier work of the Northern artist Rogier van der Weyden. The relationship between figures, space and the viewer’s standpoint, the high horizon, slightly raised viewpoint, space receding into the far distance, and a central figural group poised before a rock formation in the middle of the landscape are all copied from van der Weyden's Entombment of Christ (1460, Uffizi Gallery, Italy). [1]
Owing to Leonardo's inability to complete the painting the commission was handed over to Domenico Ghirlandaio. The final altarpiece was painted by Filippino Lippi and is now also at the Uffizi.
In 2002 Dr Maurizio Seracini, an art diagnostician alumnus of the University of California, San Diego and a native Florentine, was commissioned by the Uffizi to undertake a study of the paint-surface to determine whether the painting could be restored without damaging it. Seracini, who heads Editech,a Florence-based company he founded in 1977 focused on the “diagnostics of cultural heritage", used high-resolution digital scans as well as thermographic, ultra sound, ultra-violet and infra-red diagnostic techniques to conclude that the painting could not be restored without damaging it and that Leonardo only did the underdrawing. Another artist painted it. He stated that "none of the paint we see on the Adoration today was put there by Leonardo". As a result of his diagnostic survey on the Adoration of the Magi, Seracini completed more than 2400 detailed infrared photographic records of the painting's elaborate underdrawing, and scientific analyses.[2] The new images revealed by the diagnostic techniques used by Dr Seracini were initially made public in 2002 in an interview with New York Times reporter Melinda Henneberger. [3] In 2005, nearing the end of his investigation, Seracini gave another interview, this time to Guardian reporter John Hooper.[4] Dr Maurizio finally published his results in 2006 - M. Seracini, "Diagnostic Investigations on the Adoration of the Magi by Leonardo da Vinci (2006) in The Mind of Leonardo – The Universal Genius at Work, exhibit catalogue edited by P. Gauluzzi, Giunti Florence, 2006, pp. 94-101.[5]
Another interpretation of the symbolism in the painting is given by Lynn Picknett, co-author/researcher of the book "The Templar Revelation". She & co-author Clive Prince elaborate their theory in the Simon Cox documentary (and book by the same name) "Cracking the Davinci Code". Their book is cited as a primary historical source & authority by Dan Brown, author of "The DaVinci Code". Picknett concurs with other Davinci experts in that Davinci repeatedly adds a pointed figure(usually pointed towards the sky) as an homage/reference to John the Baptist (see the original "Madonna of the Rocks" in the Louvre, "The Last Supper", and "the Adoration of the Magi"). In addition, she notes that the presence of the carob tree in the painting, is traditionally associated with John the Baptist by the Catholic Church.
In the Smithsonian Channel TV program, "Davinci Detective" Dr Maurizio Seracini conjectures that, upon seeing the preliminary drawings for the altar piece they had commissioned, they rejected it due to the sensational scenario presented to them. Fully expecting a traditional interpretation including the three wise men, they were instead confronted with a maelstorm of unrelated, half emaciated figures surrounding the Christ-Child, as well as a full blown battle scene in the rear of the picture. They chose instead to relegate it to a storage house, rather than to destroy the original work. It was only much later & the subsequent rise in value of his art work was it resurrected & painted over to make it more "sale-able".
The painting is the central item in Andrei Tarkovsky's final film The Sacrifice.
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Costantino, Maria (1994). Leonardo. New York: Smithmark.
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