The Epiphany (6th January) traditionally closes the Christmas celebrations. This religious feast about the manifestation of Jesus to the Gentiles and the visit of the Magi to the Baby Jesus has been represented by numerous painters throughout the centuries, and it can be incredibly exciting exploring paintings from different points of views as we did in previous posts when we analysed scenes portraying the Adoration of the Magi analysing the textiles or the rich fashion details in the paintings.
This year, rather than going for an Adoration scene, let's analyse another representation of the three wise men - Andrea del Sarto's Journey of the Magi (1511). The fresco is part of a series commissioned to Andrea del Sarto (literally "of the tailor" after his father's occupation) for the atrium of the Santissima Annunziata church in Florence.
The three Magi followed the eastern star (maybe a comet or a bright planet) that they thought would lead them to the birth of a great prophet. The three wise men eventually arrived in Bethlehem, carrying their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to the Baby Jesus, but this scene represents an almost unprecedented subject, showing the three wise men while they are still searching for the Baby Jesus and they stop at Herod's palace.
There is a great interest in a new and innovative concept of articulate spatiality in the fresco with the scene vertically framed and divided in three parts - the sky, the landscape and the characters. The scene, characterised by a soft atmosphere and by rich colours, develops from the right to the left, so there is no proper focus, symmetrical narrative or balanced rhythm in accordance with the 1400s tradition. There is instead a dynamic asymmetry and a complex spatial articulation.
The Magi - in yellow gold, salmon pink and pale pink cloaks - are diagonally placed in a position that creates a sense of movement and an impression of depth. They seem to be following the other characters on the left of the painting who are walking towards the sumptuous palace of Jerusalem. Behind the Magi there is a large crowd of people, while, on the right side of the painting there are composer Francesco de Layolle, architect and sculptor Jacopo Sansovino, and Andrea del Sarto.
The palace occupies the left side of the painting creating a perspective converging towards the centre of the fresco. The sky and the landscape occupy the rest of the painting and, in the distance you can also spot an exotic element, the Medici’s giraffe (presented to Lorenzo de' Medici in 1487 by the Sultan of Egypt).
Fashion-wise this scene is very intriguing: the Magi are wearing ample and voluminous cloaks in pastel colours that partially cover their draped or pleated tunics, but there is one figure that steals the scene, a young man on the left of the painting in billowing violet robes forming almost a soft cloud around his body. He is a splendor in pastel of the kind you may seen on a Haute Couture runway (think Valentino by Pierpaolo Piccioli's Haute Couture S/S18 collection or Thom Browne's S/S 23 collection).
Probably painted by Andrea del Sarto's pupil, Rosso Fiorentino (ample robes were one of his trademark...), the young man has an interesting pose, with his back to the spectator, but his head turned, almost throwing a coquettish glance at the viewer. This character almost transforms the scene into a Mannerist representation of the Magi's journey. There is another relevant fashion note on the left of the painting, a figure with its back to the spectator, and wearing a long green robe matched with a rather extravagant rose pink wide-brimmed hat.
The theme of the journey links up with the theme of a previous post we did at the end of last year about being in transition. We have all started taking baby steps into the new year, so transitioning, moving, walking or dynamically travelling towards a new destination in search of something or of someone like the Magi did, or towards our destiny is exactly what we are all doing.
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