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Lot 46 A GROUP OF BRITISH MUSEUM DUPLICATES FROM THE COLLECTION OF AN ENGLISH CONNOISSEUR
JEAN MIGNON (ACTIVE 1535-1555) AFTER LUCA PENNI (CIRCA 1500-1577)
Adoration of the Magi in an Ornamental Frame
Closed9 December 2021
Price Realised
GBP 13,750
More Information
Specialist note
Like many of Jean Mignon's etchings, the present Adoration of the Magi is based on a design by Luca Penni, although the preparatory drawing does not seem to have survided. The original purpose of the design is unknown, but the opulent ornamental border with strapwork, fruit, vegetables and angels playing music suggests it may have been intended for a tapesty.
The scene itself, set in an open landscaped but anchored by a architectural capriccio of ruins, is highly exoticised, with fantastic costumes and camels, and one of the Magi prostrated before the Christ Child and the Virgin.
Another Adoration of the Magi by Mignon, also after Penni, is far more modest and conventional, with the Magus kneeling in front of the Virgin and Child group (see Jenkins JM 39).
According to Jenkins (2017), the Flower watermark present in this sheet appears only on the earliest prints produced at Fontainebleau.
The scene itself, set in an open landscaped but anchored by a architectural capriccio of ruins, is highly exoticised, with fantastic costumes and camels, and one of the Magi prostrated before the Christ Child and the Virgin.
Another Adoration of the Magi by Mignon, also after Penni, is far more modest and conventional, with the Magus kneeling in front of the Virgin and Child group (see Jenkins JM 39).
According to Jenkins (2017), the Flower watermark present in this sheet appears only on the earliest prints produced at Fontainebleau.