Cristofano Robetta, designer

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.