(Parma 1582–1647 Rome)
The Adoration of the Magi,
oil on canvas, 112 x 94 cm, framed

Provenance:
possibly, collection of Pierre André Joseph Knyff, canon of the cathedral of Antwerp, until 1785;
possibly his sale, Grange, Antwerp, 18 July 1785, lot 185 (as Giovanni Lanfranco);
possibly acquired by Jan Wubbles (1728–1791), Amsterdam;
Private European collection

We are grateful to Erich Schleier for confirming the attribution of the present painting on the basis of photographs.

The present previously unpublished painting is an important addition to the oeuvre of Giovanni Lanfranco. Schleier dates the work to between 1616 and 1619, when Lanfranco was at the apogee of his career, following the execution of the paintings for the Bongiovanni chapel in Sant’Agostino, Rome. The contrasts of light and shade in the present composition, show that Lanfranco was still under the influence of Orazio Borgianni (1574–1616) during this period whilst also being stylistically influenced by Annibale Carracci (see E. Schleier, Giovanni Lanfranco. Un pittore barocco tra parma, Rome and Naples, exhibition catalogue, Milan 2001, p. 37).

The Madonna’s hair, plaited round her head, reoccurs, as do her slightly childlike features, in other compositions by Lanfranco including Angelica and Medoro in a New York private collection, which can also be dated to 1616–1617. Schleier has observed that Lanfranco used the same model in other compositions and he has suggested that the facial features may be those of Cassandra Barli whom the artist married in January 1616. Comparisons are also possible with the Madonna in the Saint William rescued by the Madonna, by 1615 circa, in the Church of Sant’Agostino, Rome (see Schleier, op. cit., cat. no. 28).

The Madonna is seated with the Child in her lap and Saint Joseph to her right. One of the Magi is kneeling, while the other two are bowed in reverence, beside them are figures and camels. A painting that matches this description was listed as lot 178 in the sale of the collection of Pierre André Joseph Knyff, canon of the cathedral of Antwerp, held on 18 July 1785. The Knyff collection also included Ruben’s Christ and the Adulteress now in the Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Brussels. The painting by Lanfranco was acquired by the painter and collector active in Amsterdam, Jan Wubbels (1728–1791), who also purchased the painting by Rubens.

At the beginning of the seventeenth century Lanfranco trained with Agostino Carracci (1557–1602) in Bologna and then with his brother Annibale (1560–1609) in Rome. Between 1610 and 1620 he received prestigious commissions from cardinals Odoardo Farnese and Jacopo Sannesi and between 1610 and 1612 he travelled to Parma and Piacenza before returning to Rome. After 1620 Lanfranco became the most important painter in Rome and received commissions from Pope Paul V. In 1634 he travelled to Naples where he remained until 1646 receiving commissions for large altarpieces, as well as for frescoes in the dome of the Gesù Nuovo and the decoration of the church of the Certosa di San Martino. Lanfranco spent the last year of his life in Rome, where he returned in 1646.