Adoration of the Magi the central scene, usually a Nativity. The "adoration" of the Magi at the crib is the usual subject, but their arrival, called the "Procession of the Magi", is often shown in the distant background of a Nativity scene (usual in Byzantine icons), or as a separate subject, for example in the Magi Chapel frescos by Benozzo Gozzoli in the Palazzo Medici Riccardi, Florence. Other subjects include the Journey of the Magi, where they and perhaps their retinue are the only figures, usually shown following the Star of Bethlehem, and there are relatively uncommon scenes of their meeting with Herod and
Adoration of the Magi (Rubens, Lyon) Adoration of the Magi (Rubens, Lyon) The Adoration of the Magi is a c.1617-18 painting by Peter Paul Rubens. It is now in the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon Since it is horizontal rather than vertical it was probably commissioned for a private collection rather than as an altarpiece. Peter C. Sutton suggested that, as Rubens' treatments of this subject in vertical formats were for known ecclesiastical commissions as altarpieces, the horizontal format, which is shared with Rubens' "Adoration" painted for the "Statenkamer" of Antwerp's town hall, c. 1608-09, might suggest that the Lyon painting was also a secular commission.