The adoration of the magi

The Adoration of the Magi is a painting by the Italian Renaissance painter Filippino Lippi. It is signed and dated 1496. It is located in the Uffizi in Florence.

The panel was painted for the Convent of San Donato agli Scopeti, replacing the one commissioned in 1481 by Leonardo da Vinci, who left it unfinished. In 1529 it was acquired by Cardinal Carlo de' Medici and in 1666 it became part of the Uffizi collection.

Filippino Lippi followed Leonardo's scenario, particularly in the central part of the work. Much of its inspiration was clearly derived from Botticelli's Adoration of the Magi, also in the Uffizi: this is evident in the arrangement of the characters on the two sides, with the Holy Family portrayed in the center below. Similar to Botticelli's work, Filippino also portrayed numerous members of the Medici line of cadets, who had acceded to the Savonarolian Republic in the period in which the work was executed. On the left, kneeling and holding a quadrant, is Pierfrancesco de' Medici, who had died 20 years earlier. Standing behind him are his two sons Giovanni, holding a cup, and Lorenzo, from whom a page is removing a crown.

The general style is that of Filippino's last career, characterized by greater attention to detail and a nervous rhythm in the forms, influenced by knowledge of foreign painting schools (as well as the background landscape).