doesn't see thesignificance of the female in the picture being clothed in blue and red, or the significanceof the "blessing" position in which the baby is holding his hand, he can see that for somereason, this child is being distinguished from all other people in the painting. Another aspect of the form that draws your attention to the Virgin and Jesus is thetriangular set up of these two figures along with Joseph and another Magus. The trianglethat is formed has Mary and Jesus at the peak, yet again, drawing the viewer's attention tothese two figures and reinforcing the fact that they are of some significance. When comparing the painting to the text in the Bible that describes the same meeting ofthe Magi with the baby Jesus and Mary, there are several differences. There are certainthings that I noticed that not only go contrary to the painting, but to popular culture's ideaof this story. First, in the Bible, the Magi are referred to as, chief priests and teachers of the law. Theywere not "kings" as they are often referred to in Christian culture. In fact, in di Nardo'sdepiction, all of the Magi are wearing crowns, showing this misunderstanding. Anotherthing that is assumed by di Nardo in his painting, as well as by popular culture is thatthere were three Magi. There is nothing mentioned in Matthew 2:1 - 2:12 that makesreference to there being exactly three Magi. What I noticed that might have lead to thismisconception, however, is that the Magi brought gifts of "gold, incense and myrrh." Thisis the only thing that I saw that could have lead to the belief that there were three Magi -one Magus for each gift. There are also extra people in the painting whom I could notidentify. There is no mention of anyone in the bible besides Jesus, Mary and the Magi.There is not even any mention of Joseph who is clearly depicted. Also, the gifts that the Magi are holding in the painting by di Nardo, are all the same andlook as though they are gold, ra...
