The Adoration of the Magi

Zanobi Strozzi's Adoration of the Magi, painted around 1433 for the National Gallery, treats the Epiphany theme in a manner closely dependent on his master Fra Angelico. Strozzi's work is sometimes difficult to distinguish from Fra Angelico's own production, reflecting the close collaboration between master and assistant. This work belongs to the Early Renaissance, the transformative period in European art when painters first applied mathematical perspective, naturalistic figure modeling, and archaeological interest in antiquity to the inherited traditions of medieval devotional painting. The tension between Gothic grace and Renaissance structure gives art of this period a distinctive energy.

The processional composition arranges the Magi and their retinue before the humble stable, rendered in the luminous palette and precise technique that reflects Strozzi's thorough absorption of Fra Angelico's methods.