The Adoration of the Magi

Giovanni Baronzio was one of the outstanding painters in Rimini, on the east coast of Italy, where Byzantine art was influential. Byzantine artists typically based the size of the figures on their importance in the story represented, as in this work.

Scenes from Jesus’s birth unfold along the mountain path. At the bottom, Joseph watches midwives bathing the infant Christ. Although not included in the Bible, this episode served to remind viewers that Jesus was human as well as divine.