Adoration of the Magi

The Adoration of the Magi in San Marco is a fresco by Fra Angelico in a double cell used by Cosimo de' Medici. The paintings in the double cell differ in some respects from Fra Angelico's frescos in others cells. The pictorial language is more descriptive and the colours are brighter and the composition is more complex. Compared to the other cells the contribution from Fra Angelico is less and those of his assistants, particularly Benozzo Gozzoli, is greater. The scene is generally dated to a period close to the Crucifixion with saints, with which it has some stylistic features in common, just after the completion of the cells on the outer side of the east corridor. Some relate this scene to the Council of Florence, held in 1439, due to the presence of characters with oriental shapes. John Pope-Hennessy attributes the entire design to Angelico, also given the prestige of the location, and also confirms the intervention by Gozzoli, proposed by Gengaro.