Magi Chapel. The Magi Chapel is a chapel in the Palazzo Medici Riccardi of Florence, Italy.
Its walls are almost entirely covered by a famous cycle of frescoes by the Renaissance master Benozzo Gozzoli, painted around 1459 for the Medici family, the effective rulers of Florence. The chapel is on the piano nobile of the palace and was one of the first rooms to be decorated after the completion of the building, designed by Michelozzo.
In its original appearance the chapel was perfectly symmetrical and had its entrance through the central door, which today is closed. Inside, the chapel is divided into two juxtaposed squares: a large hall and a raised rectangular apse with an altar and two small lateral sacristies.
Begun around 1449-50, the chapel was probably completed around 1459 with the precious ceiling of inlaid wood, painted and generously gilded by Pagno di Lapo Portigiano, according to Michelozzo's design. The latter also designed the flooring of marble mosaic work divided by elaborate geometric design, which due to the extraordinary value of the materials affirmed the Medicis' desire to emulate the magnificence of the Roman basilicas and the Florentine Baptistry.
The first pictorial element in the chapel was the altar panel bearing Filippo Lippi's Adoration in the Forest. This painting is now in Berlin after being sold in the 19th century, while a copy by a follower of Lippi remains in
Its walls are almost entirely covered by a famous cycle of frescoes by the Renaissance master Benozzo Gozzoli, painted around 1459 for the Medici family, the effective rulers of Florence. The chapel is on the piano nobile of the palace and was one of the first rooms to be decorated after the completion of the building, designed by Michelozzo.
In its original appearance the chapel was perfectly symmetrical and had its entrance through the central door, which today is closed. Inside, the chapel is divided into two juxtaposed squares: a large hall and a raised rectangular apse with an altar and two small lateral sacristies.
Begun around 1449-50, the chapel was probably completed around 1459 with the precious ceiling of inlaid wood, painted and generously gilded by Pagno di Lapo Portigiano, according to Michelozzo's design. The latter also designed the flooring of marble mosaic work divided by elaborate geometric design, which due to the extraordinary value of the materials affirmed the Medicis' desire to emulate the magnificence of the Roman basilicas and the Florentine Baptistry.
The first pictorial element in the chapel was the altar panel bearing Filippo Lippi's Adoration in the Forest. This painting is now in Berlin after being sold in the 19th century, while a copy by a follower of Lippi remains in
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