Procession of the Magi
Biblical Context
Adoration of the Magi - The visit of the three wise men (Magi) from the East who followed a star to Bethlehem to pay homage to the infant Jesus, bringing gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh (Matthew 2:1-12).
Series of murals in the Magi Chapel depicting festive, vibrant processions with fine attention to detail. The Company of the Magi was a religious organization to which the Medici belonged.
The procession of the three Magi unfolds with a mixture of exotic, oriental splendor and stately, bourgeois respectability. A glittering cavalcade of men and animals winds through a rocky landscape under an azure sky, with men dressed in all the luxury of Italian 15th-century fashions, in brilliant colors, damask, and gold brocade. They ride horses and camels with various creatures to amuse them—dogs, cheetahs, and monkeys.
The religious theme was combined with a depiction of several members of the Medici family, their allies, and important figures who arrived in Florence for the Council of Florence (1438-1439). The fresco includes 32 realistic portraits, including Gozzoli himself, whose head is turned with his eye looking out toward the observer.
