Adoration of the Magi by Altichiero da Zevio

Altichiero da Zevio - Adoration of the Magi - 1378-84 - Fresco - Oratorio di San Giorgio, Padua (click photo for larger image)Italian painter Altichiero da Zevio (ca. 1330-ca. 1390) probably came from Zevio near Verona and is sometimes considered to be the founder of the Veronese School. However, most of his surviving work is in Padua, where he had a hand in fresco cycles, intermittently, between 1377 and 1384.

Altichiero's gravity and the solidity and voluminousness of his figures clearly reveal his debt to Giotto’s frescos in the Arena of Padua. But his pageant-like scenes with their elaborate architectural views express the late fourteenth century taste for Gothic intricacy.

The work featured here is located middle right on the entry wall of the chapel.

Altichiero always gave his figures  room to move, as well as a characteristic serenity and deliberate quality. This is strongly reminiscent of Giotto's figural ideal. In this Adoration one can clearly see how Altichiero has combined the Giottesque character of the figures with the penchant for narrative detail that is more in tune with the taste of his own time. He directs the attention of the viewer to the retinue of people from the Orient, to the humble appearance of the stable, and to the clothing, with its often contemporary characteristics. In order to denote the specific locality, the painter allows the walls and towers of Bethlehem to rise beyond the mountains.