Adoration of the Magi 1430

Editor: We're looking at Filippo Lippi’s “Adoration of the Magi” from around 1430, painted in oil. It strikes me as wonderfully chaotic. I mean, look at all those figures packed into this circular space! What do you make of it? Curator: It's absolutely teeming, isn't it? A visual feast! For me, it feels less chaotic and more like… a jubilant crush. I imagine Florence at the time felt like this, bursting with new ideas, with rediscovered classical forms mixing with deep religious fervor. What about that peacock perched rather incongruously on the stable roof? It feels almost… cheeky, doesn't it? A bit of a visual pun, perhaps? Editor: Cheeky is a great word for it! The peacock really jumps out. Puns, how so? Curator: Well, traditionally, peacocks symbolize immortality and resurrection. But here, in this humble setting, it's like Lippi’s winking at us. Sublimity clashing with earthly reality. He’s inviting us to find the divine in the everyday. And what do you think of the composition? That circular format, the ‘tondo,’ was becoming quite fashionable then. Editor: The tondo emphasizes the cyclical nature of life, maybe? Curator: Precisely! And the way he uses this shape to contain this vibrant, overflowing scene is rather clever. He manages to pack so much detail, so much human interest, into a neat, contained space. Makes you wonder about the stories each individual face holds, doesn't it? Editor: Definitely! I'm seeing so many smaller scenes within the bigger one. Thanks, I'm definitely seeing this with fresh eyes. Curator: It's like a Renaissance 'Where’s Waldo?', isn't it? Every viewing reveals something new. These early Renaissance masters - absolute wizards.