The Secret in the Adoration of the Magi

 

The Secret in the Adoration of the Magi

Date: 1481

Story:
Commissioned by the Augustinian monks of San Donato, Leonardo began work on “The Adoration of the Magi.” But the painting, never finished, holds secrets few noticed until centuries later.
X-ray and infrared scans revealed multiple underdrawings: one of them a battle scene, another depicting a horse collapsing under a broken cross—imagery scholars now believe to be critical of Church corruption.
Even stranger: sketches of a cardinal with donkey ears whispering to a king. Leonardo wrote beside it: “The fool guides the divine.”
Monks were reportedly disturbed by the composition, claiming it lacked proper reverence. Leonardo’s patron was pressured by Florence’s religious elite to halt the project.
Leonardo abandoned the work and left for Milan soon after, taking his notebooks but leaving the panel behind.
Some now believe this unfinished painting was his first real act of artistic rebellion—a cloaked warning to the religious authorities of hypocrisy and blind power.

Key Characters:

Leonardo da Vinci
Augustinian friars
Lorenzo de’ Medici
Unknown Florentine cardinal

Reference:

Uffizi Gallery X-ray analyses (2012)
Leonardo: Hidden Visions by Carla Giani
Codex notes held in Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale Firenze