Leonardo da Vinci - Study for the Adoration of the Magi 1480
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Study for the Adoration of the Magi 1480
21x28cm ink paper
Louvre, Paris, France
The image is only being used for informational and educational purposes
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From Louvre, Paris:
Preparatory work for The Adoration of the Magi took seven months (March-September 1481) but the painting remained unfinished. There was no break between the ideas sketched out on paper and their execution in the painting: it is as if the resources of drawing and of painting could not have been more closely matched. This drawing, an overall plan for The Adoration of the Magi, consists of two distinct parts, not yet been entirely integrated. They reflect Leonardo's early approach to the piece, before he had arrived at the idea of the painting as an open space, from which the Virgin and the adoring assembly would stand out clearly, to be echoed in the background by ruins and cavalcades. The dramatic character of the scene would later find itself further emphasized, but the essence of the artist's intentions is already evident in the poses and gestures of the figures, whose diversity underpins the narrative force.