About this artwork
The three kings or wise men bearing gifts pay homage to the new-born baby Jesus, accompanied by a colourful procession of attendants. The king at the centre in green and gold stripes may be a portrait of the original patron, the Venetian nobleman Jacopo Ghisi, from whom a down-payment is recorded in Bassano’s account book in 1542. The painting demonstrates the artist's great skill in painting animals, for which he was famous. The ruined architecture is partly adapted from a woodcut by the great German artist Albrecht Dürer.
Updated December 2020
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artist:Jacopo Bassano (Jacopo dal Ponte)Italian (about 1510 - 1592)
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title:The Adoration of the Kings
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date created:Early 1540s
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materials:Oil on canvas
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measurements:183.00 x 235.00 cm; Framed: 219.00 x 272.50 x 11.00 cm / 69.00 kg
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credit line:Purchased by the Royal Scottish Academy 1856; transferred to the National Gallery of Scotland 1910
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accession number:NG 100
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artwork photographed by:Antonia Reeve
Jacopo Bassano (Jacopo dal Ponte)
Jacopo Bassano (Jacopo dal Ponte)
Jacopo dal Ponte was named Bassano after his native town of Bassano del Grappa, near Venice. Born into a family of painters he received his initial training from his father and then studied in Venice. He became close friends with Tintoretto and Veronese. He returned to Bassano and ran the family...
