Adoration of the Magi

The canvas, signed and dated 1564, was painted by the artist from Schio, Giovanni Demio, for the parish church of Santa Maria at Santorso (Vi).

The work, removed from its original position, was first relegated to the sacristy of the church and then, during the nineteenth century, passed into important private collections in Vicenza: the collection of Count Clemente Barbieri and then that of the historian Francesco Formenton, who gave it to the Civic Art Gallery in 1874. The painting remained in store for some decades in the church of San Lorenzo in Vicenza, returning to the Gallery in 2001.

The painting is the fruit of experience acquired by Demio during his stays in the Veneto and in Lombardy, in central and southern Italy, particularly in the area around Naples, and also of his link with Giorgio Vasari. In this work, in fact, the artist shows the particular characteristics of his style.

The figures are massed together, almost falling over into the foreground, compressed in a tight space oppressed by the architectural ruins in the background. The spectacular procession that follows the Magi, paying homage to the Child, is composed of a crowd of characters contorted in highly unnatural poses and wrapped in sumptuous clothing enriched with showy medallions, precious necklaces and exotic headgear.

Their forms, illuminated by sudden flashes of light, are made metallic by the colour which, over the years, has assumed a particular bronze hue due to the gradual deterioration of the film of paint, applied directly on the canvas without the necessary preparation.