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The Adoration of the Magi
About the Artwork
According to the Gospel of Matthew, three Magi, guided by a star, found the newborn Christ and laid gifts before him. Artists throughout the 15th century elaborated considerably upon this biblical account, devoting particular attention to the Magi’s entourage, which gave them an opportunity to depict the splendor of contemporary aristocratic life. Here, the Magi solemnly honor the divine child in the Virgin’s arms, while their bustling retinue of courtiers and animals provides an exuberant visual diversion. Di Paolo was one of the leading painters in 15th-century Siena, noted both for his manuscript illuminations and painted panels supplied to the city’s churches.
Provenance
Alice Hofman, Baltimore. (Seligmann & Rey, New York).
Exhibition history
Paths of Abstract Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (October 5-November 13, 1960). Gothic Art 1360-1440. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 6-September 15, 1963). Juxtapositions. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (September 11-October 10, 1965). Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art. National Museum of Bavaria, Munich, Germany (May 10-September 16, 2007); J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA (October 30, 2007-January 20, 2008); Frist Art Museum, Nashville, TN (February 13-June 7, 2009). Da Jacopo Della Quercia a Donatello. Le Arti a Siena nel Primo Rinascimento. Complesso Museale Santa Maria della Scala, Siena, Italy (March 26-July 11, 2010).
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Giovanni di Paolo (Italian, c. 1403–1482)
- Date
- 1440–45
- Medium
- tempera and gold on wood panel
- Dimensions
- Framed: 52.5 x 59 x 7.5 cm (20 11/16 x 23 1/4 x 2 15/16 in.); Unframed: 38.4 x 44.3 cm (15 1/8 x 17 7/16 in.)
- Type
- Painting
- Classification
- Painting
- Department
- Medieval Art
- Credit line
- Delia E. Holden and L. E. Holden Funds
- Accession no.
- 1942.536
More by Giovanni di Paolo in museum collections
Predella Panel from an Altarpiece: St. Catherine of Siena Invested with the Dominican Habit
Giovanni di Paolo1460s · Painting
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Open-access museum record · AT-00009264
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