The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 25, 2025

Adoration of the Magi

c. 1500–1525

attributed to Giulio della Torre

(Italian, c. 1481–before 1563)
Italy, first quarter 16th century
bronze
Overall: 23.5 x 31.9 cm (9 1/4 x 12 9/16 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 1954.601
Location: Not on view

Description

Figures leading livestock descend the winding rocky landscape in the background while in the foreground, a crowd gathers before the Holy Family. The traveling figures compose the majority of this plaque, communicating the haste and urgency on their journey to see Christ. Above the Holy Family, a rustic hut creates a canopy. The Madonna and Child sit prominently at the right on a Renaissance bench, receiving the Three Kings. The first king kneels as the Christ Child bends to accept the gift. Joseph stands cross-armed behind the Madonna with two winged angels at his side. Behind him are the heads of an ox and an ass, traditional elements of nativity scenes. To the left three children play while a youth leans on a pagan altar. The torso of an ancient sculpture lies on the ground before it, demonstrating that Christ has come to replace the ancient gods. This low-relief plaque was once believed to have been destroyed in 1914 but is now thought to have been a part of the Count W. Pourtalès collection in St. Petersburg, Russia. Adoration of the Magi resembles a 1506 relief by Riccio made for the Easter Candle in the Basilica of St. Anthony in Padua.
  • Possibly Marco Benavides, 1489-1582 (Padua, Italy)
    By 1899. Probably Count Friedrich von Pourtales, 1853-1928 (St. Petersburg, Russia, and Berlin, Germany).
    by 1953 - 1954 Dr. Jacob Hirsch (New York, New York), sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1954.
  • Milliken, William M. “‘The Adoration of the Magi’ by Riccio.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 42, no. 1 (January 1955): 10–12.
    Published as attributed to Riccio Mentioned and reproduced: p. 10-12 www.jstor.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 86 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 86 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 100 archive.org
    Winter, Patrick M. de. “Recent Accessions of Italian Renaissance Decorative Arts, Part I: Incorporating Notes on the Sculptor Severo Da Ravenna.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 73, no. 3 (March 1986): 74–138.
    Published as attributed to Riccio Mentioned and reproduced: p. 87, fig. 25 www.jstor.org
  • When Angels Bent Near the Earth to Touch Their Harps of Gold: The Christmas Story. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 1, 1981-January 17, 1982).
    "Renaissance Bronzes from Ohio Collections," Cleveland Museum of Art, 1975.
    "Austellung von Kunstwerken des Mittelalters und der Renaissance aus Berliner Privatbesitz," Berlin, 1899.
    "Decorative Arts of the Italian Renaissance, 1400-1600,"
    Renaissance Bronzes in American Collections. Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, MA (organizer) (April 9-May 3, 1964).
    "Renaissance Bronzes in American Collections," Smith College Museum of Art, April 9 to May 3, 1964, no. 13.
    Detroit Institute of Arts, 1958, no. 246.
  • {{cite web|title=Adoration of the Magi|url=false|author=Giulio della Torre|year=c. 1500–1525|access-date=25 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1954.601