The Adoration of the Magi (Virgin of the Grotto)
Andrea Mantegna (Italian, 1431-1506)
c. 1500
- Medium
- Engraving on paper
- Classification
- Dimensions
- 37.8 × 28 cm (14 15/16 × 11 1/16 in.)
- Culture
- Italy
- Museum
- Art Institute of Chicago, Prints and Drawings
- Credit line
- Clarence Buckingham Collection
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed
View at the Art Institute of Chicago
About this work
This unfinished engraving presents the Adoration of the Magi in a cave instead of its typical stable setting. The unusual cropping to a detail of Mantegna’s original painting alludes to the grotesque style of art that was popular at the time the print was made. The word “grotto” (or grotta in Italian) literally translates into “cave,” while the grotesque style was patterned on antique paintings found underground that featured images of bizarre creatures or people, intermingled with foliage, columns, and animals.
Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0
