The Adoration of the Magi

The Adoration of the Magi was painted by Masaccio circa 1426 as part of the Pisa polyptych, commissioned for the chapel of notary Ser Giuliano di Colino degli Scarsi da San Giusto in the church of the Carmine, Pisa.

The work remained in situ until the mid-16th century, when Giorgio Vasari saw and described it in the second edition of his Vite (1568). In the 17th or 18th century the polyptych was removed from the altar, dismantled, and dispersed. The two panels of the Adoration of the Magi and Saints Peter and John the Baptist were in the Capponi collection in Florence when sold to the Gemäldegalerie Berlin in 1880; they had previously been attributed to Pesellino but were already recognized as Masaccio and part of the Pisa polyptych upon acquisition. The remaining predella panels entered the Berlin collection in 1908 with uncertain attribution.

The painting measures 22.3 cm in height and 61.7 cm in width, executed in tempera on poplar panel. It originally formed part of the central predella beneath Masaccio's Maestà (now in the National Gallery, London). The composition presents a profile view of the Adoration, contrasting with Gentile da Fabriano's 1423 Adoration in its restraint.

Figures include the Holy Family, three Magi, attendants, and likely representations of the commissioning notary and his nephew. The work reflects Masaccio's use of linear perspective, chiaroscuro, and naturalistic detail, while engaging with contemporary Florentine artistic debates.

The panel is held in the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin, inventoried as 1199.

It entered the museum’s holdings in two acquisitions: the Adoration of the Magi together with the Martyrdom of Saints Peter and John the Baptist was purchased in 1880 from the Capponi collection in Florence; the two panels depicting the Stories of Saints Julian and Nicholas were added in 1908.

The work has not been recorded in major temporary exhibitions since its arrival in Berlin, and no modern exhibition history is documented in the cited sources.

Masaccio's The Adoration of the Magi (1426) stands as a pivotal document of the Early Italian Renaissance, originating from the well-documented Pisa Polyptych commissioned by the notary Ser Giuliano di Colino. Art historical scholarship highlights the work's deliberate stylistic opposition to Gentile da Fabriano's ornate Adoration of the Magi (1423); where Gentile employed lavish detail, Masaccio adopted a frieze-like composition and sober realism. This shift marked a decisive move away from International Gothic frills toward the structural clarity and humanist values defining the Florentine Renaissance.

The painting's significance was recognized early by Giorgio Vasari, who described it in 1568, though the polyptych was later dismembered. Modern attribution confirms the panel's authorship, correcting earlier misidentifications as works by Pesellino, and situates the piece as a central element in understanding Masaccio's revolutionary approach to perspective and narrative solemnity.

The painting's historical reputation is anchored in its early documentation by Giorgio Vasari, who viewed and described the work in the 1568 edition of his Lives. Although the original polyptych was dismantled and dispersed during the 17th or 18th centuries, the panel's artistic significance was recognized by the 19th century; by the time its components entered the Berlin collection in 1880, it had been correctly attributed to Masaccio, overturning earlier misidentifications as works by the Pesellino. The work is historically noted for its deliberate stylistic contrast to Gentile da Fabriano's 1423 Adoration of the Magi, rejecting ornate complexity for a frieze-like composition.

This specific iconographic choice, presenting the scene entirely in profile, remained unique until Sandro Botticelli later revived the format.

The Adoration of the Magi is a painting by Masaccio, created in 1426. It is a religious work executed in paint.