Procession of the Magi

A charming nineteenth-century copy after one of the most celebrated scenes from Benozzo Gozzoli's frescoes in the Medici Chapel of the Palazzo Medici Riccardi, Florence. The composition reproduces the youthful magus Caspar — modelled on a young Lorenzo de' Medici — riding a white horse amidst the magnificent cavalcade of the Procession of the Magi (1459–1461), commissioned by Piero de' Medici for the family's private chapel.

Gozzoli's frescoes — inspired in part by Gentile da Fabriano's Adoration of the Magi from the Strozzi chapel (now in the Uffizi) — are among the supreme achievements of the Florentine Renaissance, transforming the biblical journey of the Magi into a sumptuous pageant of contemporary Florentine life. Members of the Medici family and their circle appear disguised within the sacred narrative, clothed in richly embroidered garments and surrounded by retainers, hunters, exotic animals, and elaborate landscapes.

The youthful Lorenzo, shown here in profile with flowing golden hair and a jewelled headdress, became one of the most admired figures of the entire cycle and was frequently copied by nineteenth-century artists catering to the growing taste for Renaissance subjects. The present work faithfully preserves the brilliant decorative character of the original, particularly in the lavishly caparisoned white horse, the gold-embroidered costume, and the vivid palette of crimson, blue, and white that made Gozzoli's frescoes famous among Grand Tour travellers.

Removed from the wider narrative context, the scene functions as an independent cabinet picture, celebrating the elegance, pageantry, and dynastic self-fashioning of Renaissance Florence.