Adoration of the Magi (detail)

religious

The Adoration of the Magi is located middle right on the entry wall of the chapel. Altichiero always gave his figures space, in the sense of room to move, along with this freedom of movement are their characteristic serenity and deliberate quality, which is strongly reminiscent of Giotto's figural ideal. A good example of this is the Adoration of the Magi, in which one can clearly see how Altichiero has combined the Giottesque character of the figures with the penchant for narrative detail that is more in tune with the taste of his own time.

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About the Artist

Altichiero Da Zevio

1330 – 1390

Italian painter. He probably came from Zevio near Verona and is sometimes considered to be the founder of the Veronese School, although the only surviving example of his work in that town is a fresco in Sta Anastasia. Most of his surviving work is in Padua, where he had a hand in fresco cycles in the Basilica of St Anthony (between 1372 and 1379) and in the Oratory of St George (between 1377 and 1384), in the latter of which he collaborated with an artist called Avanzo, who is otherwise unknown and whose contribution to the work is uncertain. Altichiero's gravity and the solidity and voluminousness of his figures clearly reveal his debt to Giotto 's frescos in the Arena Chapel of Padua. But his pageant-like scenes with their elaborate architectural views express the taste of the late 14th century for Gothic intricacy, while his naturalism in the study of plants and animals formed the point of departure for a new style which is reflected in Pisanello.

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