Iconographical Analysis: di Nardo, 'Adoration of the Magi'

A detailed Summary of Iconographical Analysis: di Nardo, 'Adoration of the Magi'

Iconographical Analysis: di Nardo, 'Adoration of the Magi'

The painting "Adoration of the Magi" by di Nardo portrays the three Magi approaching the baby Jesus and the Virgin Mary. However, there is much more to it than just this familiar scene from Judeo-Christian lore. When approaching this painting in order to analyze it iconographically, it is necessary to first look at all aspects of the form. If this aspect is ignored, it provides for an incomplete analysis of the painting. Once this is looked at, the iconography of the painting becomes much clearer, and it is easier to compare the painting to the actual biblical text from which it was derived (Gospel of St. Matthew 2:1 - 2:12).

When approaching the painting the first thing I noticed was the odd perspective. There are several vanishing points. Also, all of the figures seem to be placed on one plane. Because of this, the two figures that represent Jesus and Mary seem to be hovering weirdly above the ground. This, I believe, draws the viewer's attention to these two figures, since they are the main focus of the painting.

Due to the influence of my culture, I recognized the figures as Jesus and Mary immediately. However, despite this, there are a few indicators as to who the

There is also one detail mentioned in the biblical version that di Nardo, for whatever reason, chose to leave out of "Adoration of the Magi." The Bible makes a big point that the Magi followed a star to find Jesus, and that the start stopped over the house where the baby Jesus was. However, in di Nardo's representation, the sky is clear and golden.

The several differences between the painting and the actual story in the Bible show the vast misconceptions (or if these were not misconceptions, at least misrepresentations) of di Nardo when painting this picture. However, these misconceptions were not di Nardo's alone. Whether these were commonly held beliefs at the time that "Adoration of the Magi" was painted, I do not know. What I do know however, is that when I initially started looking at the painting I did not notice anything "wrong" with it. In fact, I was going to change my selection on the belief that the painting was "too straight forward." It was not until I started carefully looking at the notes I had taken about the picture and the notes I had taken about the verses in Matthew that I noticed these subtle differences. I had never read that section of the Bible before and through years of Christmas songs, and setting up the manger with Wise Men and the baby Jesus in my living room at Christmas time, I had come to believe that that there were three Wise Men. They were "three kings from Bethlehem." They visited Jesus in the manger with the cows and the sheep. This shows that what is conventionally believed is not necessarily accurate. We see this clearly in "Adoration of the Magi," which initially looks perfectly okay to the popular Judeo-Christian eye, but upon closer inspection holds many of the common misconceptions of the three Wise Men.

When comparing the painting to the text in the Bible that describes the same meeting of the Magi with the baby Jesus and Mary, there are several differences. There are certain things that I noticed that not onl

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Approximate Word count = 1328
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English