Adoration of the Magi 1740

Giambattista Pittoni painted this Adoration of the Magi in Venice, probably in the first half of the 18th century. The painting depicts a scene from the Gospel of Matthew, where three wise men, or Magi, visit the newborn Jesus, bearing gifts. Pittoni's painting is of interest because it allows us to see the ways that Venice, and by extension, the institutions of the Catholic church, conceived of their relationship to the rest of the world. The most obvious visual clue is the African Magus in the left of the picture. This figure shows the global reach of Venice as a mercantile power, and the universal ambitions of the Catholic church. The ruined classical architecture in the background might reference the supersession of paganism by Christianity, or Venice's claims to be a 'new Rome'. These associations would have been legible to Pittoni's viewers. Art historians draw on a range of source materials to better understand the context and meaning of paintings like this, from trade statistics to theological treatises. Ultimately, the meaning of art is always contingent on its social and institutional context.