Shirley Smith
Renaissance Art Historian
Tel. +44 (0)1728 638 271
Email. shirleypamsmith@gmail.com
Address.
The Garden House, Bruisyard,
Saxmundham, Suffolk, IP17 2ED
Excess Baggage: The Journey of the Magi From S. Matthew to the Medici
The scene of the Adoration of the Magi is central today to our image of the Christmas story. So it may come as a surprise to learn that their number, names and ethnic origins were all later additions to the biblical account. Indeed, by the 16th century they were not the only additions to the text as you will discover in this lecture which forms a sequel to my Christmas lecture: Picturing the Nativity: Painting by Numbers.
Gentile da Fabriano Adoration of the Magi 1423
Image source: Web Gallery of Art