A wise man's painting: Sandro Botticelli's The Adoration of the Kings

Botticelli sets this scene of the wise eastern kings visiting the newborn Christ in a classical ruin that has a haunting mystery and grandeur. The towering broken arches under which the Magi and their retinue pay their respects can be seen as representing the old pagan world about to be replaced by the Christian church: but Botticelli loves these ruins. He was painting in Florence, where the wisdom of pagan antiquity was revered, and where the powerful Medici family identified with the Magi. With paintings like this Botticelli appealed to their pride, and won their patronage. It is a work that won him gifts Illustration: The National Gallery, London