The Procession of the Magi (Zanobi Strozzi)

The Procession of the Magi
King Balthazar's Journey to the Holy Land
ArtistZanobi Strozzi
Yearbetween circa 1445 and circa 1450
Mediumoil paint on panel
MovementQuattrocento
Catholic art
SubjectAdoration of the Magi
Dimensions66.2 cm × 71 cm (26.1 in × 28 in)[1]
LocationMusée des Beaux-Arts, Strasbourg
Accession1893

The Procession of the Magi, more recently and more precisely known as King Balthazar's Journey to the Holy Land is a mid-1440s or late 1440s painting by the Italian painter from Tuscany, Zanobi Strozzi. It is now in the Musée des Beaux-Arts of Strasbourg, France. Its inventory number is 261.[2]

The Pesellino pendant, Williamstown

The painting is today recognized as the pendant of King Melchior Sailing to the Holy Land by Francesco Pesellino now in the Clark Art Institute of Williamstown, Massachusetts. Together with a yet unidentified painting, they may have formed the predella of a yet unidentified altarpiece. Strozzi's painting had at first been attributed to Domenico di Michelino by Bernard Berenson. It is attributed to Strozzi since 1950.[1][2]

King Balthazar's Journey to the Holy Land had belonged to the collection of Alessandro Castellani, Rome, then to the collection of Charles Butler (1821–1910) in London. At its first sale, on 29 March 1884, it passed from the estate of Castellani into the Butler collection with an attribution to Piero della Francesca, but this was abandoned before Wilhelm von Bode bought the painting for the Strasbourg museum in 1893.[1]

The refined style, the precious colours and the fairy-tale atmosphere of the painting are characteristic of the school of Florentine painting initiated by Fra Angelico,[1][2] although they were already very much on display in Gentile da Fabriano's Adoration of the Magi (1423).

References

  1. ^ a b c d Moench, Esther (June 2017). De Giotto à Goya. Peintures italiennes et espagnoles du musée des Beaux-Arts de Strasbourg. Musées de la ville de Strasbourg. pp. 50–51. ISBN 978-2-35125-151-5.
  2. ^ a b c Jacquot, Dominique (2006). Le musée des Beaux-Arts de Strasbourg. Cinq siècles de peinture. Strasbourg: Musées de Strasbourg. pp. 44–45. ISBN 2-901833-78-0.
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