Adoration of the Magi (1500s): Art, History and Details

Adoration of the Magi (1500s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Titian (Italian, c. 1488–1576); Workshop.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Is this painting by Titian? Titian, the celebrated and prolific 16th-century Venetian artist, and his large workshop painted several versions of this subject. Further research is needed to compare this painting with versions in Milan and Madrid to determine how much of each is by Titian himself, as opposed to being the work of his studio assistants. The Prado Museum in Madrid is often considered to have a copy made from Cleveland’s painting, which is superior in execution but not condition. Despite the damage caused by overcleaning, there are many fine passages, including the bowing white horse, his groom in shadow, and the cradled Christ child.

Object facts

• Title: Adoration of the Magi
• Date: 1500s
• Creator attribution: Titian (Italian, c. 1488–1576); Workshop
• Culture: Italy
• Type: Painting
• Technique: oil on canvas
• Dimensions: Framed: 168 x 250 x 14 cm (66 1/8 x 98 7/16 x 5 1/2 in.); Unframed: 134.5 x 217 cm (52 15/16 x 85 7/16 in.)
• Collection: P - Italian 16th & 17th Century
• Department: European Painting and Sculpture
• Accession number: 1957.150

A detail from the museum

This painting is filled with naturalistic details such as the riders who struggle to keep their horses and mules still and a small dog who urinates on a beam.

Collection credit

Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Waagen, Gustav Friedrich, Elizabeth Eastlake, and Algernon Graves. Treasures of Art in Great Britain: Being an Account of the Chief Collections of Paintings, Drawings, Sculptures, Illuminated Mss., &C. &C. London, United Kingdom: J. Murray, 1854.
• Munro, H. A. J. A Complete Catalogue of the Paintings, Water-Colour Drawings, Drawings, and Prints, in the Collection of the Late Hugh Andrew Johnstone Munro, Esq., of Novar : At the Time of His Death Deposited in His House, No. 6 Hamilton Place, London : With Some Additional Paintings at Novar. London: publisher not identified, 1865.
• Crowe, J. A., and G. B. Cavalcaselle. The Life and Times of Titian: With Some Account of His Family. London, United Kingdom: Murray, 1881.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.