The Adoration of the Magi

This 1726 Adoration of the Magi in the Royal Collection depicts the visit of the three kings to the Christ Child with the pageantry and exotic costumes the subject traditionally demanded. The Magi—representing the three ages of man and the three known continents—offered Baroque painters opportunity for spectacular costume, diverse physiognomy, and festive procession. Ricci renders the scene with characteristic luminosity and fluid grouping, the stable setting transformed into a theater of devotion. Painted near the end of his long career, this work demonstrates his sustained creativity in religious narrative. The Royal Collection's acquisition reflects the taste of George I's court for Venetian decorative painting combining religious content with visual splendor.

The royal procession provides opportunities for sumptuous costume painting, Ricci rendering gold, silk, and fur with the material richness that the Venetian tradition had perfected since the time of Veronese.