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 (Lorenzo Monaco) Adoration of the Magi (Lorenzo Monaco) The Adoration of the Magi is a tempera on panel painting by the Italian late Gothic artist Lorenzo Monaco, now housed in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. The painting is known by a rather complete documentation. It was executed by Lorenzo with the help of three assistants, and, despite the reduced size, it was paid the huge sum of 182 florins. According to some hints in Giorgio Vasari's "Lives of the Most Excellent Painters", it could have been executed for the church of Sant'Egidio in Florence, when it was reconsecrated by Pope Martin V.