The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of April 19, 2024
The Adoration of the Magi
c. 1740
Location: not on view
Description
According to the Gospel of Matthew, three Magi, guided by a star, found the newborn Jesus and laid gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh before him. Giovanni Battista (Giambattista) Tiepolo’s drawing of the traditional subject places the Madonna on a platform as she holds the Christ child out toward three approaching magi. Two bearded white magi kneel in supplication as the turbaned black magi stands behind them. Tiepolo plays with the conventions of the Adoration subject by employing an asymmetrical composition. Working over his black chalk underdrawing, traces of which are visible in the figures’ robes, the artist delineated the scene with brown ink, quill pen, and brush before modeling with brown wash. Tiepolo’s mastery over value is evident in his contrasts of dark shadow with light midtones and the luminous white of his paper, producing his celebrated effects of glistening sunlight and clear atmosphere. The broken wheel in the foreground, an attribute of Saint Catherine, also appears in Tiepolo's etching of the same subject (1965.18) to which this drawing may be related.- ?-1898G. Déloye (Gustave Déloye) [1838-1899], Paris (inscribed with initials, lower right, in brown ink, similar to Lugt 756).1898Adoration of the Magi in Déloye collection sold (see H. Mireur, Dictionnaire des Ventes d'Art (Paris, 1911), 7:183).?-1944(Richard H. Zinser, New York, purchased by The Cleveland Museum of Art, Dec. 1944.)1944-The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH.
- Francis, Henry S. "’The Adoration of the Magi,’ a Drawing by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 33, no. 1 (1946): 8-9. Mentioned and Reproduced: pp. 8-9, on cover. www.jstor.orgMillier, Arthur. The Drawings of Tiepolo. Los Angeles: Borden Publishing Co., 1956. Reproduced: p. 24 and on cover.Rizzi, Aldo. Disegni del Tiepolo. Udine: Loggia del Lionello, 1965. Mentioned: p. 63 under no. 17The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 144 archive.orgThe Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 144 archive.orgKnox, George. Tiepolo: A Bicentenary Exhibition 1770-1970. Cambridge, MA: Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, 1970. Mentioned: under no. 21Russell, Helen Diane. Rare Etchings by Giovanni Battisita and Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo. Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art, 1972. Mentioned: p. 28The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 144 archive.orgDreyer, Peter. Kupferstichkabinett Berlin: Italienische Zeichnungen. Stuttgart: Belser Verlag, 1979. Mentioned: under no. 74Succi, Dario. Giambattista Tiepolo: il segno e l’enigma. Gorizia, Italy: Vianello Libri/Foligraf, 1985. Mentioned: p. 40Miller, Michael J. Drawing: A Glossary of Materials. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1986. Mentioned and Reproduced: pp. 13, 14, 17Bean, Jacob. 100 European Drawings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1990. Mentioned: under no. 41Bean, Jacob and William Griswold. 18th Century Italian Drawings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1990. Mentioned: p. 200 under no. 190.The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1991. Reproduced: p. 109 archive.orgStanford University Museum of Art and Lorenz Eitner et. al. The Drawing Collection. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1993. Mentioned pp. 138-40Martineau, Jane, and Andrew Robison. The Glory of Venice: Art in the Eighteenth Century. New Haven, Conn: Yale University Press, 1994. Mentioned: p. 498 under no. 109Cleveland Museum of Art, Diane DeGrazia, and Carter E. Foster. Master Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art in association with Rizzoli International Publications, New York, 2000. Mentioned: pp. 64-65; p. 286, cat. no. 22; Reproduced: p. 65
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- {{cite web|title=The Adoration of the Magi|url=false|author=Giovanni Battista Tiepolo|year=c. 1740|access-date=19 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1944.474