European Painting before 1900, Johnson Collection Adoration of
the Magi Predella panel of an altarpiece; companion to two
panels in the John G. Johnson Collection, Philadelphia Museum of
Art (Inv. 1290, 1292)Made in Italy, Europe Cenni di Francesco
(Cenni di Francesco Cenni di Ser Cenni), Italian (active
Florence, Volterra, and San Gimignano), first documented 1369,
died 1414 Tempera and tooled gold on panel with horizontal grain
Inv. 1291John G. Johnson Collection, 1917 LabelThis panel was
originally part of a long, horizontal plank that was the
predella, or base, of an altarpiece. The subject of this scene
and the two others that completed the predella—one showing the
Martyrdom of Saints John the Baptist and Lawrence and the other
representing the Martyrdom of Saint Bartholomew and the Miracle
of the Bull (Philadelphia Museum of Art, inv. 1290,
1292)—indicate that the main sections of the altarpiece
depicted, from left to right: Saint John the Baptist, Saint
Lawrence, the Virgin and Child, Saint Bartholomew