Where can I see this painting?

It's at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy. Botticelli painted it around 1475 for the chapel of Gaspare di Zanobi del Lama in the church of Santa Maria Novella.

Are real people depicted in this painting?

Yes. Botticelli included portraits of the Medici family as the Three Magi and their entourage. Cosimo de' Medici kneels before the Virgin, while his sons Piero and Giovanni appear as the other two kings. Botticelli also painted himself looking out at the viewer from the far right.

What art movement does this represent?

It's an Early Renaissance work from Florence. The painting shows Botticelli's developing skill with composition and portraiture. The triangular arrangement of figures around the Holy Family was innovative for the time and influenced later treatments of the subject.

How big is The Adoration of the Magi?

It measures 111 cm × 134 cm (43.7 × 52.8 inches). Botticelli painted it in tempera on wood panel. The inclusion of so many recognizable Medici faces made the painting both a devotional work and a political statement of Medici power in Florence.

Why did Botticelli include the Medici?

The patron, Gaspare del Lama, was a Medici associate who wanted to demonstrate his loyalty. Including the ruling family in a religious painting was common in Renaissance Florence. It served as both flattery and a public display of political allegiance.

Where to See The Adoration of the Magi by Sandro Botticelli

The Adoration of the Magi

by Sandro Botticelli, 1476

StyleRenaissance

GenreReligious

MediumTempera Wood Panel

Palette

Year: 1476
Medium: Tempera on panel
Size: 111 cm × 134 cm

Where to See It

Uffizi Gallery, Florence

Florence, Italy

Permanently housed

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The Artist

Sandro Botticelli

1445–1510

Italian

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Sandro Botticelli painted The Adoration of the Magi around 1475-1476 for a funerary chapel at the Santa Maria Novella monastery in Florence. The patron, banker Gaspare di Zanobi del Lama, chose the subject partly because his name "Gaspare" matched one of the three Magi. More significantly, the painting serves as a who's who of the Medici family.

Cosimo de' Medici kneels before the Virgin as the eldest Magus. His sons Piero and Giovanni appear as the other two kings. Grandsons Lorenzo and Giuliano stand among the crowd. All the Medici portrayed were dead by 1476, transforming the painting into a memorial and political statement. Florence belonged to Lorenzo, and Botticelli made that clear.

A young man in a golden cloak at the far right looks directly at the viewer. Scholars accept this as Botticelli's self-portrait. The tempera-on-panel painting measures 111 by 134 centimeters and hangs at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. Botticelli painted at least seven versions of this subject throughout his career.

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