The Galleria degli Uffizi gives pride of place to an unfinished
painting by Leonardo da Vinci, dedicating an entire room to the painting and
panels that give its meaning and history.
Leonardo da Vinci’s “Adoration
of the Magi” was commissioned
by the Augustinian Canons Regular for the high altar of their church of San
Donato a Scopeto, which was located outside the Porta Romana city gate.
Leonardo left Rome for Milan in 1482 without completing it.
With Epiphany coming up on January 6, this seemed like the perfect painting to conclude the blog series. The story of the magi is told in Matthew 2:1-12.
1Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of
Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to
Jerusalem, 2saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews?
For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” 3When
Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; 4and
assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them
where the Christ was to be born. 5They told him, “In Bethlehem of
Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:
6‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a
ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’”
7Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and
ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. 8And he sent
them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when
you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.” 9After
listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they
had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place
where the child was. 10When they saw the star, they rejoiced
exceedingly with great joy. 11And going into the house they saw the
child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening
their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. 12And
being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own
country by another way.
Paintings tell stories. Even when one is incomplete, we can still learn
from the Old Masters.
__________
I took the photo when we visited Florence in 2018. The painting is in the public domain because of its age.
No comments:
Post a Comment