Antonio Vivarini and Giovanni d'Alemagna's ca. 1441–45 painting Adoration of the Magi (Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Berlin) tells us something about the Orient, Christians, and Muslims. This work falls into a tradition of representations of its subject from the period of the Council of Ferrara in 1438–93, where the reunification with Oriental Churches was negotiated. At the same time, it represents a demonstration of the secular glory, wealth, and power of the person who commissioned it. It comes from the possessions of the Zens, an aristocratic family from Venice that, in the 1430s and 1440s, must have had a strong interest in the reunion of the Church and its hoped-for alliance with the Christian Orient. This provenance, the connection of more members of the Zen family to the Orient, and the direct connection of Michele Zen to the Council of Ferrara suggest that it was commissioned by a member of this family.
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