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The
Chapel of the Magi occupies an important
place in the Medici Palace which Cosimo
the Elder built, starting in about 1444,
in accordance to the architectural design
by Michelozzo di Bartolomeo.
In its original aspect preceding the "cutting-out"
of a corner desired by subsequent owners
of the Palace, the Marchesi Riccardi in
1699, the Chapel was perfectly symmetrical,
and had its entrance through the central
door, which today is closed. Inside, the
Chapel is divided into two juxtaposed squares:
a large hall and a raised rectangular apse
with an altar and two small lateral sacristies.
Begun around 1449-50, the Chapel was probably
terminated in 1459 with the precious ceiling
of inlaid wood, painted and generously gilded
attributed to Pagno di Lapo Portigiano,
according to Michelozzo's design.
The latter also designed the flooring of
marble mosaic work divided by elaborate
geometric design, which due to the extraordinary
value of the materials (porphyries, granites,
etc.), affirmed the Medicis' desire to emulate
the magnificence of the Roman basilicas
and the Florentine Baptistry.
The first pictorial element in the Chapel
was the altar panel bearing Filippo Lippi's
Adoration of the "Christ Child", which was
sold during the last century and today is
in Berlin. In its place is a copy attributed
to the Pseudo Pier Francesco Fiorentino,
a follower of Lippi, which has fully regained
its orignal beauty due its restoration completed
in 1992. The Chapel is famous for the series
of wall paintings by Benozzo Gozzoli, with
the Angels in Adoration in the rectangular
apse and the "Journey of the Magi" in the
large hall. Painted during the years subsequent
to 1459, but in any case by 1463, they represent
the masterpiece oft his painter, dedicated
to a sacred subject but rich in traces of
pomp and seculare legance with all the care
that Cosimo and Piero de' Medici - as exigent
buyers and connoisseurs of art - expected
of him. Hosts of angels sing and adore on
a rural background civilly partioned, like
the typical Florentine countryside. While
the magnificent procession of the Three
Kings approaches Bethelem accompanied by
their respective entourages they enjoy the
scene of a noble hunting party with falcone
and felines along the way. The sumptuous
and varied costumes with their princely
finishings make this pictorial series one
of the most fascinating testimonies of art
and costume of all time. Among the followers
of the Magi there are numerous family portraits.
On the north wall, in the entourage of young
King Kaspar (whom poetic tradition considers
an ideal portrait of Lorenzo de' Medici,
the future "Magnifico"), may identified
Cosimo with his sons Piero, Giovanni and
Carlo, the young princes Lorenzo and Giuliano
di Piero and the painter Benozzo. The restoration
of the paintings (1987-1992) have revealed
a refined and complex operational technique
and made it possible to fully appreciate
Benozzo's compositional capacity. He was
a skilled constructor of animated landscape
backdrops in perspective, besides being
an analytical witness of the knightly pomp
of the Court, in which are incorporated
the memories of magnificent parades which,
during the Feast of Magi the and on other
important celebrative occasions, wended
their way along the Via Larga under the
palace windows. The precious interior decoration
of the Chapel is completed by a wooden baldachin
worked in inlay and carving, whose architectural
design is attributed to Giuliano da Sangallo,
around 1469. |
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The young King
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The Middle King
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