Adoration of the Magi (Fra Angelico and Filippo Lippi) interest in both the subject and the form. The Magi had been the key Medici devotion for decades, apparently beginning with the papacy of Antipope John XXIII (1410–1415) when they had become the main bankers of the Papacy, or at least those parts John controlled. The Medici belonged to the "Compagnia de' Magi", a Florentine confraternity based at the San Marco complex just by the Medici Palace, both of which Cosimo de' Medici rebuilt a few years before the tondo was painted. An annual procession on the feast of the Epiphany on January 6 was organized by the confraternity, and
Adoration of the Magi (Stefano da Verona) The rich harnesses and the fanciful hats of the members of the procession resemble similar elements work by Pisanello, who was a friend of Stefano da Verona, and is thus inspired by the dresses of the Byzantine court at the Council of Basel in 1431. The peacock on the hut's top is an early Christian symbol of resurrection and immortality, as, since Roman times, his flesh was deemed not to be prone to rotting. The violet symbolizes Christ's humility, the red carnation the Passion. The painter's signature, in golden letters, is located at the bottom center. Adoration of the Magi