The Adoration of the Magi
Lodovico Cardi (1559 - Rome 1613)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1605 (signed and dated)
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
3454 x 2337 mm (136 x 92 in)
Place of origin
Florence
Order this imageCollection
Stourhead, Wiltshire
NT 732100
Caption
The Madonna and Child are enthroned against a backdrop of classical buildings with St Joseph standing behind. Caspar, instead of offering his gift which is on the ground with his turban, is kissing Christ's foot. There are a large retinue of attendants and a giraffe and a leopard to denote the exotic country from whence the wise men, or kings, called Magi, came. Painted by Ludovico Cardi, in 1605, this painting was formerly in the Albizzi Chapel, San Pier Maggiore, Florence. The church was destroyed in 1784 and this picture was subsequently acquired in 1790 by Richard Colt Hoare (1758-1838) of Stourhead who arranged his best pictures around this huge altarpiece.
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, The Adoration of the Magi by Ludovico Cardi, called Il Cigoli (Castello di Cigoli 1559 - Rome 1613), signed and dated LC (monogram) 1605. The Madonna and Child sit enthroned, on the left, with Saint Joseph standing behind. Caspar, who has removed his turban and placed his gift on the ground, is kneeling in front of the Holy Family kissing Christ's foot. In front of the throne at the left lies a large black and white dog. On the right is Melchior, with a page, holding a casket, and behind him, the head of Balthasar and various attendants. In the central middle ground a helmeted horseman sits on a white horse, accompanied by another holding lances, a giraffe and a leopard and its handler, against a backdrop of classical buildings. Putti-angels scatter flowers from the sky. The altarpiece was formerly in the Albizzi Chapel, San Pier Maggiore, Florence. The church was destroyed in 1784 and this picture was subsequently acquired by Richard Colt Hoare (1758-1838) in 1790.
Provenance
Painted for the Albizzi Chapel, San Pier Maggiore, Florence, 1605 (the church was subsequently destroyed in 1784); bought by Sir Richard Colt Hoare (1758-1838) whilst in Florence, in 1790 and thence by inheritance; given to the National Trust along with the house, its grounds, and the rest of contents by Sir Henry Hugh Arthur Hoare, 6th Bt (1865 – 1947) in 1946.
Credit line
Stourhead, The Hoare Collection (National Trust)
Marks and inscriptions
Recto: Signed lower left, above the dog’s left paw: LC (monogram) 1605.
Makers and roles
Lodovico Cardi (1559 - Rome 1613), artist
References
Colt Hoare 1818 Sir Richard Colt Hoare, A Description of the House and Gardens at Stourhead...with a Catalogue of the Pictures, Salisbury 1800, Bath 1818, rev. 1822, no. 133 Hoare 1822 Sir Richard Colt Hoare, History of Modern Wiltshire (Hundred of Mere),1822 , p.78 Stourhead 1838: Inventory of Heir-Looms at Stourhead directed to be taken by the Will of the late Sir Richard Colt Hoare Bart. with the state and condition thereof, 1838 , no. 327 Clifford 1977-78 Timothy Clifford, ‘Cigoli’s Adoration of the Magi at Stourhead’, The National Trust Year Book, 1977-78, pp. 1-17, pp.1-17 Faranda 1986 F. Faranda, Ludovico Cardi detto il Cigoli, Rome 1986 , n.69 M. Chiarini, Tra Manierismo e Barocco Dipinti, exh. cat., Pitti Palace, Florence, 1992 , no. 20 , p. 203 Stourhead Wiltshire, 1992: List of Pictures, [National Trust; Anthony Mitchell & Alastair Laing] 1992 , p.15