Tuesday 29 December 2020

Mantegna's Magi


 All three Magi in this version wear pink surcoats.   With Virgin and Babe being jostled by so many angelic Innocents [?] , the Kings take centre stage.  All are relatively large, and would be very tall if their limbs were unfolded  - especially  the African King with his long legs and arms.  His blue turban is on the ground.   Only he has a retinue, with at least seven dark, turbaned attendants, and a couple of camels [are others obscured by the damaged patch?]     It's a prodigious filmset landscape of papiermache rocks and a steep winding roadway leading directly to today's fantasy cinema.


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