Botticelli's Adoration of the Magi on loan to Milan's Museo Diocesano

Sandro Botticelli's 'Adoration of the Magi' (1475) is the focus of the 16th edition of 'Capolavoro per Milano' at the Museo Diocesano in Milan during the 2024 Christmas season. The painting, usually housed at the Gallerie degli Uffizi in Florence, was commissioned by banker Gasparre di Zanobi da Lama for his family chapel in Santa Maria Novella. It served as a charitable donation to atone for usury. The work is rich in Medici symbolism: Cosimo de' Medici is depicted as the eldest Magus kissing Christ's foot, while his sons Piero and Giovanni, as well as Lorenzo il Magnifico and Giuliano de' Medici, appear among the retinue. Botticelli himself is thought to be the blond youth in orange at right, and the commissioner is the gray-haired figure at left. Other possible figures include Filippo Strozzi, Lorenzo Tornabuoni, Giovanni Argiropulo, Pico della Mirandola, and Agnolo Poliziano. The composition blends religious and political allegory, with a ruined classical temple symbolizing paganism overcome by Christianity, and a peacock representing Christ's immortality. The exhibition offers a rare opportunity to view the masterpiece outside Florence.