Adoration of the Magi

Eusebio di Iacopo Cristoforo, known as Eusebio da San Giorgio
tempera on panel
1509

Eusebio da San Giorgio was included among the most important pupils of Perugino by Vasari. The single work attributed to him is an Adoration of the Magi originally in the Church of St. Augustine in Perugia, now at the National Gallery of Umbria. This is the same subject portrayed by the artist on wood panel in the Church of Sant Pietro, for which he was paid by Leonarda Olivieri Baglioni in 1509. The panel was to have been placed in the King’s Chapel, now the Ranieri Chapel, on the left aisle, between the Vibii Chapel and the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament. 

That the artist depended strongly on Perugino’s manner is clear in this Adoration, as in the one executed for St. Augustine. Both paintings are inspired by the Adoration of the Magi (circa 1475) that Vannucci executed for the Baglioni family, today in the National Gallery of Umbria, and originally in the Church of Santa Maria dei Servi in Perugia. That painting was a model for the general organization of the scene as painted by Eusebio; the representation of the stall where the Child lay; the Magi huddled together in the foreground; the almost dancing poses of those present; and the meticulous description of decorative details, such as the clothes and jewels of the Magi.