Title

Adoration of the Magi

Gallego, Fernando (Salamanca. Active 1468-1507)

Generic classification

Object

Date

Century

Cultural context / style

Dimensions

Material

Technique

Iconography / Theme

Provenance

Current location

Inventory Number in Current Collection

Object history

This painting was acquired by the Toledo Museum of Art in 1940 with funds from the endowment of the glass industry magnate Edward Drummond Libbey (1854-1925). There is no information about its provenance. In 1888 it appeared at the Universal Exhibition of Barcelona as a loan from the widow of the art collector José Ignacio Miró, Madrid. In 1903 it appeared in the sale of the collection of the German dealer Émile Pacully, based in Paris. We do not know if it was sold then or if it remained in Pacully's hands until his death in 1938: that same year, the works that had remained in his possession were sold by Hôtel Drouot. As noted, it was acquired immediately afterwards by the Toledo Museum of Art and figured prominently in the exhibition of Spanish painting curated at that institution by José Gudiol in 1941. Since there is consensus in its attribution to Fernando Gallego, it can be assumed that it comes from Castilla y León, given that this artist, active in Salamanca, worked preferably for the southwest of the territory of the current autonomous community of Castile and León. However, his activity in Extremadura is also documented, so it cannot be ruled out that it comes from this autonomous community. On a purely hypothetical basis, Juan Antonio Gaya Nuño suggested that the panel could come from the Salamanca village of Villaflores, from which comes a Coronation of the Virgin in the Diocesan Museum of Salamanca. Gaya Nuño based his hypothesis on the size of the panels (133 cm high the one in Salamanca and 127 cm high the one in Toledo) and on the stylistic relationship between them, since, within the evolution of Fernando Gallego's style, they would be more or less contemporary. For the moment, it is not possible to advance in this hypothesis.

Description

Fernando Gallego treated the theme of the Adoration of the Magi on at least three occasions: in the present panel, in the panel of unknown provenance in the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya and in the panel from the main altarpiece of the cathedral of Zamora in the Pedro Masaveu Collection in the Museo de Bellas Artes de Asturias. In addition, his regular collaborator, Master Bartolomé, treated the theme in the main altarpiece of the church of Santa María of Trujillo, made in collaboration with Fernando Gallego and preserved in situ. The composition of the Toledo panel is very similar to that of the Barcelona and Trujillo panels, with the Virgin and Child located on the far right and St Joseph behind, collecting the gifts of the Magi, all of them housed by a ruinous architecture. The first of the Magi is kneeling, adoring, with joined hands, Christ. The second of the Magi is bending down to give St. Joseph his gift. On the far left, the third of the Magi is standing upright, waiting his turn. Thus, the three moments through which the three illustrious visitors have to pass are represented: arrival, delivery of the gift and adoration itself. While in the panels of Barcelona and Trujillo one of the Magi is black (the one who delivers his gift to St Joseph in Barcelona and the one who waits his turn in Trujillo), according to a convention that would become habitual throughout the 15th century, in the Toledo panel all three are white. In the Toledo panel the richness of the coloring stands out (especially notable in the blue cloak of the Virgin), the plasticity of the forms (especially notable, also, in the blue cloak of the Virgin) and the way in which the artist takes pleasure in the luxurious details, such as the clothes of the Magi or the pieces of gold work that contain their gifts. In the Toledo panel there is a singular iconographic detail that does not appear in its counterparts in Barcelona and Trujillo and to which the North American museum has drawn attention on different occasions: in the background landscape, the three Magi are represented, on their way to Bethlehem, taking a rest and bathing in a river while, in the sky, like a star, the Virgin appears to them with the Child to show them the way they should follow, thus assuming the traditional role of the star of Bethlehem.

Locations

• Unknown date

  region

  Possible origin from Castile and Leon, Castilla y León (Spain)

• 1888

  dealer/antiquarian

  José Ignacio Miró, Madrid (Spain) *

• 1903

  private collection

  Émile Pacully, Paris (France) *

• 1940 - present

  museum

  Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio, Toledo, Ohio (United States)