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European Collection
Italian 1495-1600
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Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi, called Sandro Botticelli, and Assistants (Italian, 1444/45-1510)
The Adoration of the Child, about 1500
Tempera on panel, Diam: 49 1/2 in. (125.7 cm.)
Gift of the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, 60.17.26
The circular shape of this panel, called a tondo from the Italian word for "round," has symbolic significance: during the Renaissance, the circle was considered the most perfect geometric form, just as Christ personified perfection. The circular format w as well-suited to Botticelli's affinity for line and rhythmical movement. The ornate frame--carved in Florence during the 1950s--is based on the type that would have originally surrounded the painting. As is frequently the case with other Renaissance paintings, this work contains many Christian symbols. The wheat stalks emerging from the thatched roof and beneath Christ's pillow refer to Bethlehem (literally "house of bread") and to the bread of the Eucharist, served at communion to symbolize Christ's body. In the middleground, Botticelli includes the approach of the three magi and their retinues, who have come to pay homage to the newborn king of the Jews.
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