The Adoration of the Kings

The Adoration of the Kings (1480), at the National Gallery in London, is one of Lippi's earlier independent works, painted while he was still consolidating his identity as an artist distinct from his master Botticelli. The Adoration of the Magi was one of the most important subject types in Florentine painting — the Medici themselves had a special devotion to the Magi and frequently commissioned Adoration scenes in which their own portraits appeared among the kings' retinue. Lippi's version shows his early development of the crowded multi-figure composition that would become his hallmark.

The early date makes this Adoration less fully developed than the spectacular 1496 Uffizi version, but it already shows Lippi's inclination toward complex crowd arrangements and landscape backgrounds. His handling of the Magi's retinue — horses, servants, exotic costumes — demonstrates the appetite for visual variety that would characterise his mature multi-figure compositions.