The Adoration of the Kings

In 1519 followers of Raphael drew a full-size design of the Adoration of the Kings for a tapestry. Around 20 years later in Ferrara, Girolamo da Carpi reworked that composition for this small arched panel, painted between about 1538 and 1548. He kept its crowding, figures pressed close in heavy, twisting drapery, in the manner of Raphael's pupil Giulio Romano. The setting, though, he cut right back, to a few stone steps and a great tree, with a hill town in the distance. The oldest king lies flat on the ground, about to kiss the Child's foot, an unusual choice. Another, crowned, holds out a gilded vessel, while a third, behind him, takes off his sword. High in the dark sky, the star that guided them shines through the cloud. The painting was bought for the National Gallery in Paris in 1860.