Lorenzo Monaco, The Adoration of the Magi

1414
Tempera on wood
Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy

This is a panel from the predella of the Coronation of the Virgin that Lorenzo painted for the Camaldolese church of St. Mary of the Angels in Florence. Like most Adoration of the Magi works of this time, the magi are pictured as three European-looking men – one old, one young, one in the middle. Their regal status is implied by the crown that the first king has placed on the dais and by the servants and horses on the left. As in many other examples, St. Joseph takes charge of the gifts. The Virgin Mary wears her customary blue mantle and the child is half-wrapped in the "swaddling clothes" of Luke 2:7.

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Photographed at the site by Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.