The Adoration of the Magi, after Filippino Lippi 1505 - 1515

Cristofano di Michele Martini, called Il Robetta, made this engraving of The Adoration of the Magi after Filippino Lippi in Florence, Italy, around 1500. The Adoration of the Magi was a popular theme during the Renaissance. The subject allowed artists to display wealth through the richly dressed kings. This particular print after Lippi demonstrates the importance of workshop culture and the rise of printmaking as a means of disseminating images. The print is not simply a reproduction, but an interpretation. It invites us to consider the artist's creative choices in translating a painting into a print, and how this reflects the changing role of the artist at the time. Engravings such as this one were luxury goods, but they were also designed for wider distribution. Studying the provenance of prints such as this can tell us how images circulated and were consumed in the early modern period. This helps us understand the networks of exchange and influence that shaped the Renaissance.