Adoration of the Magi 1590 - 1598

Benedetto Caliari made this drawing of the Adoration of the Magi using pen and brown ink with gray wash, heightened with white gouache, on gray-blue paper. The subject, in which the three kings pay homage to the infant Jesus, was a popular one in 16th-century Venice. Caliari worked in the circle of the artist Veronese, and here he evokes that artist's love of sumptuous fabrics and exotic costumes. But the drawing also reflects the social and cultural hierarchies of Venice, a powerful trading center with links to the East. The magi, often depicted as representatives of different parts of the world, were a way for Venetian artists to explore the city's global connections and its place in a complex network of trade and cultural exchange. To understand this drawing better, one might study the economic history of Venice, looking at its trade routes, its merchant class, and its relationship to the wider world. This kind of research would help us to understand how Caliari's image reflects and comments on the social structures of its time.