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Volterra

The Procession of the Magi and a terracotta work attributed to Andrea della Robbia, Volterra Cathedral.

The Procession of the Magi and a terracotta work attributed to Andrea della Robbia, Volterra Cathedral.

Vasari, well-known author of the artist’s biographies, points out that Benozzo produced some works in the city of Volterra of which, even in his day, only a small frescoed niche in the Chapel of the Virgin in the Cathedral remained. The subject depicted was the Procession of the Magi, reminiscent of the best-known procession painted by the artist in the Medici Palace in Florence in 1459. This fresco served as the backdrop for a group of terracotta sculptures, attributed to Andrea della Robbia, portraying the Adoration of the Magi, which must have completed the narration of the episode painted by Gozzoli. The sculptures are currently housed in a tabernacle in the same chapel, and have been replaced by another group representing the nativity scene, also sculpted by Andrea della Robbia.