The Adoration of the Magi
Medium
Chiaroscuro woodcut from three blocks in brown
Dimensions
Sheet: 6 13/16 × 9 11/16 in. (17.3 × 24.6 cm) Image: 6 5/8 × 9 7/16 in. (16.8 × 24 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Purchase, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, 1917
Accession Number
22.73.3-59
Art Historical Context
Behold *The Adoration of the*, a captivating chiaroscuro woodcut created by Niccolò Vic after a design by the Mannerist master Parmigianino (Girolamo Francesco Mariaola) around 1540–50. This print depicts the biblical scene of the Three Wise Men presenting gifts to the Christ child, a popular Renaissance subject symbolizing the revelation of Jesus to the Gentiles. Parmigianino, famed for his graceful, elongated figures and elegant compositions—as seen in works like his *Madonna with the Long Neck*—infuses the scene with a refined, otherworldly beauty typical of Mannerism, bridging High Renaiss...