Bramantino, 'The Adoration of the Kings', about 1500
About the work
Overview
This scene is so unusual that it’s not entirely clear who the figures are intended to represent. Usually the Three Kings are shown kneeling in front of the Christ Child; here, instead, we can see two of them standing proudly before the Virgin and Child, presenting their gifts in large containers. We aren't sure which figure is intended to represent the third king.
The figure with the mane of hair who looks straight towards us is John the Baptist. It’s unusual to see him in this scene, but his baptism of Christ is celebrated on 6 January – the same day that the visit of the Three Kings is celebrated.
Bramantino was fascinated by linear perspective (using line to create an impression of three-dimensional space on a flat surface). He created a guide of intersecting lines on this panel, allowing him to paint objects and figures at the correct scale relative to each other so they appear to be in a realistic three-dimensional space.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- The Adoration of the Kings
- Artist
- Bramantino
- Artist dates
- active 1490; died 1530
- Date made
- about 1500
- Medium and support
- oil on wood
- Dimensions
- 56.8 × 55 cm
- Acquisition credit
- Layard Bequest, 1916
- Inventory number
- NG3073
- Location
- Room 14
- Collection
- Main Collection
- Previous owners
- Frame
- 20th-century Replica Frame
Provenance
Additional information
Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Martin Davies, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Earlier Italian Schools’, London 1986; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.
Exhibition history
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2014Building the Picture: Architecture in Italian Renaissance PaintingThe National Gallery (London)30 April 2014 - 21 September 2014
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2014Bramantino and the French Rule in Renaissance Lombardy (1499-1525)Museo Cantonale d'Arte26 September 2014 - 11 January 2015
Bibliography
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1851Palazzo Manfrin, Catalogo dei quadri esistenti nella galleria della nobile signora Marchesa Manfrin Plattis in Venezia, Stanza segnatura H 1851
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1851W. Woodburn, Inventory and Valuation of Pictures Made from the Manfrin Collection at Venice, n.p. 1851
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1870Royal Academy of Arts, Exhibition of the Works of the Old Masters, associated with a Collection from the Works of Charles Robert Leslie, R.A., and C. Phillip Clarkson, R.A., London, Royal Academy (exh. cat. Royal Academy of Arts, 1870), London 1870
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1871J.A. Crowe and G.B. Cavalcaselle, A History of Painting in North Italy: Venice, Padua, Vicenza, Verona, Ferrara, Milan, Friuli, Brescia, from the Fourteenth to the Sixteenth Century, 2 vols, London 1871
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1874F. Kugler, Handbook of Painting: The Italian Schools, ed. E. Eastlake, 4th edn, London 1874
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1887F. Kugler, Handbook of Painting: The Italian Schools, eds C.L. Eastlake and A.H. Layard, 5th edn, London 1887
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1903A.H. Layard, Sir A. Henry Layard, G.C.B., D.C.L.: Autobiography and Letters, ed. W.N. Bruce, London 1903
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1912A. Venturi, 'La formazione della Galleria Layard a Venezia', L'arte, XV, 1912, pp. 449-62
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1951Davies, Martin, National Gallery Catalogues: The Earlier Italian Schools, London 1951
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1953W. Suida, Bramante pittore e Il Bramantino, Milan 1953
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1961M. Davies, The Earlier Italian Schools, 2nd edn, London 1961
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1986Davies, Martin, National Gallery Catalogues: The Earlier Italian Schools, revised edn, London 1986
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1987J. Anderson, 'Layard and Morelli', in F.M. Fales and B.J. Hickeys (eds), Austen Henry Layard tra l'Oriente e Venezia, Rome 1987, pp. 109-37
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1993J.H. Beck and M. Daley, Art Restoration: The Culture, the Business and the Scandal, London 1993
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1993J. Dunkerton, 'Restored to View', National Gallery News, 1993
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2001
C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
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2004G. Morale, L'adorazione del Bramantino, Milan 2004
About this record
If you know more about this work or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.