Nevertheless, or perhaps because of this, the legend of the magi has fired the imagination of Christians since the earliest times. Sentiment gives way to awe, perhaps even fear. The background music changes from major to minor. The sweet domesticity of mother and child and the bucolic atmosphere of shepherds and stable are disturbed by the arrival of these strangers from the East. The magi lend an exotic and mysterious air to the Christmas story. The magi proffer precious gifts: a fine Chinese porcelain bowl filled with gold coins a censer (for frankincense) made of Turkish tambac ware (an alloy of copper) and a green agate vessel, presumably filled with myrrh. Joseph, Mary and the three magi gaze at the newborn babe in Italian artist Andrea Mantegna’s “Adoration of the Magi” (c.
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