The Compagnia dei Magi known as the Compagnia della Stella (15th century) 
- Place:
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The Compagnia dei Magi
- Epoch, date:
- 15th century
- :
- Florence, Via Larga, Convent of San Marco
- Description and information:
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Cosimo il Vecchio transferred to the convent of San Marco, renovated and enlarged by Michelozzo from 1436 on, the headquarters of three lay confraternities to which the Medici family were to remain bound throughout the fifteenth century: the Compagnia dei Tessitori dell'Arte della Seta or di Porta Rossa (Silk Weavers), that of the Purification of Our Lady and Saint Zenobius, also known as the Fanciulli di San Marco, and finally that named after the Holy Magi known as the Compagnia della Stella. The three oratories were located to the north of the church on Via Larga. The main task of the company of the Magi was to organise the Feast of the Magi which was celebrated in the streets of the city every three years (from 1447 every five) on the day of the Epiphany. The company had probably already been founded at the end of the fourteenth century, although the first records date to 1417 when the Signoria decreed the funding of the institution which already held its meetings in the church of San Marco. In Michelozzo's complex, the company initially met in the sacristy, and later in the chapter room overlooking the cloister of Saint Antoninus.
The coat of arms was tierced in mantel black and white, with a golden six-pointed star in the upper central section recalling the star or comet that guided the journey of the Three Kings towards Bethlehem. In 1467 the association, which had up to then been 'di stendardo' without particular devotional commitments, became 'di disciplina' and assumed stricter regulations. Possibly as a result of this modification, the confraternity previously governed by three Captains passed under the guidance of a Governing Father assisted by several Councillors.
Once established in the convent of San Marco, the Compagnia dei Magi became one of the most important in the city thanks to the protection of the Medici and the large number of members, in their hundreds. The Medici in fact revealed a particular predilection for the figures of the Magi, who were selected as the subject of various paintings that went to adorn their private quarters: these included the cell of Cosimo il Vecchio in the convent of San Marco, frescoed by the Angelico with the Adoration of the Magi, and the chapel of Palazzo Medici frescoed by Benozzo Gozzoli with the Procession of the Magi, possibly as a recollection of the lavish processions organised by the confraternity to celebrate the feast of the Epiphany. Naturally, the painting destined to the altar of the oratory, commissioned in 1470 from Cosimo and Bernardo di Stefano Rosselli, also portrays the Adoration of the Magi (Florence, Uffizi).
As well as the male members of the House of Medici, the members of the company also included many influential figures of their entourage, so that effectively the confraternity ended up by representing the Medici faction. Among the must illustrious confreres were Donato Acciaiuoli, Gentile Becchi, Cristoforo Landino, Alamanno Rinuccini, Giorgio Antonio Vespucci and Luigi Pulci.
The company was in the habit of appointing a number of "masters of revels", with the task of organising the feast of the Magi. This involved three separate processions which initially came together in front of the Baptistery and later in Piazza della Signoria. Together they then proceeded as far as Piazza San Marco where they adored the Child Jesus. Florence donned all its finery for the occasion and the procession, which also traversed Via Larga, was an opportunity to flaunt costumes, music and banners that exalted the magnificence of the Medici family and the other members of the confraternity. The intention was decidedly worldly and self-celebrating rather than religious.
The company of the Magi was suppressed in 1494 after the banishment of the Medici from Florence. The last procession was organised by Fra Girolamo Savonarola in a greatly downsized and much more restrained and austere version, in which the parts of the three kings were interpreted by the friar himself and two other Dominicans.
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