Three Points of View for the Drawing Adoration of the Magi by Leonardo da Vinci

Abstract

This contribution to the literature presents an in-depth analysis of the scene drawn by Leonardo da Vinci in the preparatory drawing, Adoration of the Magi, dated 1481, that is now housed at the Département des Arts Graphiques du Musée du Louvre in Paris, France. This analysis focuses on the architectural elements and highlights how the drawing discloses three distinct vanishing points/centers of vision: one for the classical architecture to the left of the scene, one for the Nativity hut, and one for the structure with stairs. If we consider the structures as belonging to the same 2D projected space, at least two must be depicted out of square; conversely, if we consider them as straight, standard structures, they cannot belong to the same 2D projected space. Given this assumption, we propose, on the one hand, some variations of the scene where the structures are straightened and projected according to only one of the viewpoints at a time; on the other hand, a set of variants of the scene are presented, considering the out-of-square structures. The scenes are generated by applying inverse perspective projections. These results prompt a discussion on possible reasons why Leonardo made these conscious or unconscious “formal errors”.