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Cristofano Robetta

Adoration of the Magi

Description

Maker

Cristofano Robetta (Italian, b. 1462, fl. 1535), designer

Title

Adoration of the Magi

Year

ca. 1496-1500

Medium

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Materials

engraving

Supports

Dimensions

Plate: 30.2 x 26.2 cm (11 7/8 x 10 5/16 inches)

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Museum Works of Art Fund

Object Number

60.008

Type

Projects & Publications

Publications

  • Books

The Brilliant Line: Following the Early Modern Engraver, 1480-1650

Renaissance engravings are objects of exquisite beauty and incomparable intricacy that are composed entirely of lines. Artists began using this intaglio process in Europe as early as 1430. This captivating catalogue focuses on the height of the medium, from 1480 to 1650, when engravers made dramatic and rapid visual changes to engraving technique as they responded to the demands of reproducing artworks in other media. The Brilliant Line follows these visual transformations and offers new insight into the special inventiveness and technical virtuosity of Renaissance and Baroque (Early Modern) engravers. The three essays discuss how engraving’s restrictive materials and the physical process of engraving informed its visual language; the context for the spread of particular engraving styles throughout Europe; and the interests, knowledge, and skills that Renaissance viewers applied when viewing and comparing engravings by style or school.

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

The Brilliant Line
Following the Early Modern Engraver, 1480-1650
Sep 18, 2009 – Jan 03, 2010

Label copy

Primarily a goldsmith, Cristofano Robetta’s few engravings drew upon compositions by painters in the region of Florence. The technical similarities with Martin Schongauer and Albrecht Dürer (whose engravings were widespread in Italy by 1500), may be difficult to grasp at first viewing. But Robetta relied on these Northern line systems more so than early Italian models by delineating his forms with curved, crossed hatching to intimate shadow and texture. Robetta also referenced Schongauer’s ornamental “commas,” which punctuate the ends of drapery folds, seen most clearly on the kneeling magi at left.

Adoration of the Magi depicts the three magi, or kings, who visited Christ after his birth. This composition generally follows a painting of 1496 by Filippino Lippi, while details such as the ox and donkey to the right of the Virgin and the landscape are quoted from prints by Schongauer and Dürer.

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This object is in the Public Domain and available under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

Tombstone

Cristofano Robetta (Italian, b. 1462, fl. 1535), designer
Adoration of the Magi, ca. 1496-1500
Engraving, trimmed to platemark
Plate: 30.2 x 26.2 cm (11 7/8 x 10 5/16 inches)
Museum Works of Art Fund 60.008

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