The Adoration of the Magi

Fra Bartolomeo (Bartolomeo di Paolo del Fattorino)

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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).

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.

Metropolitan Museum of Art