GOZZOLI, Benozzo
(b. ca. 1420, Firenze, d. 1497, Pistoia)

Procession of the Magi (moved section, backfill wall)

1459-60
Fresco
Chapel, Palazzo Medici Riccardi, Florence

In 1659, the Riccardi family bought the Palazzo Medici and undertook some structural changes. This included, in 1689, the building of an exterior flight of stairs leading up to the first floor. For this purpose the entrance to the chapel had to be moved. During the process, two sections of wall were cut out of the south western corner, in the Procession of the Oldest King. After the stairs were finished, the cut out elements were mounted on a corner of the wall projecting into the room. During the course of this, the oldest king's horse was cut up and mounted on two different segments of the wall. The picture shows the backfill wall with the cut out section of the procession of the old king.