UFFIZI, Leonardo-The Adoration Of The Magi_Room A35

The painting you are looking at, as you can guess, is an unfinished work. The Adoration of the Magi, in fact, commissioned to Leonardo in 1481 by the monks of a Florentine convent, with the commitment to finish it within 30 months, was not completed because the artist left Florence to move to Milan.

Moreover, this is not the only work that Leonardo did not finish, accustomed as he was to always be pursuing new ideas and transformations for his paintings, which he kept changing. But its very incompleteness allows you to understand the evolution of his work, almost as if it were a large sketch.

After having made at least two preparatory drawings, the master first proceeded to prepare the support, which consisted of a plank of poplar wood to which he applied a layer of plaster mixed with glue and plant fibers. Then, after a few more passes, he drew a charcoal sketch and went over it with brown ink....