Presentation at the Temple; Adoration of the Magi; Massacre of the Innocents

A predella made between 1470 and 1472 by Fra Diamante and Filippino Lippi, respectively a pupil and son of Filippo Lippi. Tempera on panel, it has the usual narrow and long format of this type of religious artwork. It is about 26 centimetres high by 160 centimetres long and is divided into three compartments.
The three drawings constituted the lower part of a painting commissioned to Diamante di Feo, called Fra Diamante, depicting the Nativity. This was requisitioned by Napoleonic troops in 1812 and is now preserved at the Louvre in Paris.
In the three compartments, three episodes of Christ’s childhood are depicted. These include: The massacre of the innocent, the Adoration of the Magi and the Presentation at the Temple, presented in an order that differs from the traditional sequence of events.
In fact, the first frame from the left, refers to the Presentation at the Temple of Child Jesus. He is laid, naked, on an altar in the centre of the artwork, flanked by Saint Joseph and Mary and supported by the high priest Simeon. Groups of male and female characters are arranged diagonally on the sides to give the scene a deeper depth and a more dramatic feel.
The central episode represents the Magi procession that pays homage to the Child Jesus. The Holy Family is painted on the right side, while in the middle the three Magi, characterised by fifteenth-century clothing, kneel and show their gifts, accompanied by other characters and some horses.
The right-hand compartment depicts a frantic Massacre of the Innocents. The scene consists of several soldiers on horseback and on foot hurling swords and daggers at a crowded group of women with children in blankets, located on the right side. The faces of women are desperate, whereas the faces of soldiers, who kill male infants, are aggressive. The tragic character of the episode is highlighted by the red brushstrokes with which the artists rendered both the blood splashes on the children's bodies and along the blades of the weapons.