Adoration of the Magi (Botticelli, 1475) described by Vasari as "the finest of all that are now extant for its life and vigour"), his sons Piero (the second Magus kneeling in the centre with the red mantle) and Giovanni (the third Magus), and his grandsons Giuliano and Lorenzo. The three Medici portrayed as Magi were all dead at the time the picture was painted, and Florence was effectively ruled by Lorenzo. Whether Botticelli's intimate relations with the Medici brothers allowed the wealthy Gaspare to introduce the portraits of their kinsmen in his altar-piece, or Gaspare was glad for this opportunity to pay a graceful compliment to
Adoration of the Magi (Ospedale degli Innocenti) landscape with ships among hills and mountains, a layman and a clerk observe the scene: they symbolize the main institutions backing the orphanage. The city in the left background is a symbolic representation of Rome: edifices include the Colosseum, Trajan's Column, the Torre delle Milizie and the Pyramid of Cestius. The predella, painted by Bartolomeo di Giovanni, includes episodes of the lives of the saints and of the Virgin. They are, from left: Adoration of the Magi (Ospedale degli Innocenti) The Adoration of the Magi is a painting by the Italian Renaissance master Domenico Ghirlandaio, executed around 1485-1488 and housed