in which he emphasises the contours and shades the
drapery is similar to the effect that light has on drapery
in Ghiberti���s The Story of Joseph (Museo dell���Opera del
Duomo, Florence). The latter also demonstrated how to
accommodate a variety of people and animals within a
limited space. Ironically, it is the dog���s coat in Solomon
and Sheba that resembles the hair of the oldest king in
the fragments. Ghiberti also depicted an Adoration that
has striking similarities to Botticelli���s rendering of the holy
family.
Context
The ���beauty��� which Vasari once praised in the Uffizi
Adoration of the Magi of 1475 gives way to a simplified
rendering that penetrates the viewer by its crudeness
and directness.39 It is no longer important to distinguish
���which servants belong to each king���.40 Instead, the
communication of the message becomes the focus.
One might wonder why there was a need to convey
meaning and to provoke emotions in a city which held
such prodigious celebrations of the Epiphany that ���the
entire populace��� took part in reenacting it.41 In fact, the
answer lies in the question itself. Eye-witnesses, cited
HYLAND
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