Focus on this artwork and discuss the The subject.
The story of the Adoration of the Magi (or "Kings") was a standard episode in cycles of the Life of the Virgin and Life of Christ in art and so frequently painted throughout the fifteenth by artists including Botticelli, and his mentor Filippo Lippi. Botticelli was commissioned to paint it at least seven times. Patrons and painters throughout Europe were particularly drawn to this story, especially in Florence, Italy. Wealthy patrons may have been particularly drawn to the display of riches and finery that were displayed in the magi's expensive and exotic clothes and gifts.  In Italian cities such as Florence many patrons were themselves involved in international trade, including with parts of the Islamic world.
The "Other" is a term used by art historians today that describes how Europeans viewers cast unknown peoples and foreigners, including Muslims, Jews and peoples from the so-called "Orient" (the East), as well as indigenous cultures from the so-called "New World" of the Ancient Americas (who do not appear in this sunject).  In theology the Three Magi represented the first Gentiles to recognise Christ, and legendary accretions to the story made each represent a different part of the world beyond Europe and the Middle East.
Identifiable clothing was one of the main ways the "Other" was depicted. For instance, many of the figures are shown wearing different types of textiles that have bands of gold at the shoulders and the hems; these likely refer to Asian textiles known as "tartar cloths" or Islamic-style tiraz textiles with inscriptions. Examples of these exotic luxury goods were available in various church collections across the different Italian city-states, including the treasury of the Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi.  Luxury textiles from Asia and Islamic lands became signifiers of wealth, prestige and thus functioned as status symbols--when included in a religious painting like Botticelli's Adoration of the Magi, they functioned as a way to bestow honor and glory on images of holy figures and well as the patron.Another way the idea of "Other" is demonstrated was by the inclusion of rare and exotic objects in artistic representations. There are several different types of gold cups and receptacles that are presented by the three kings Botticelli's Adoration of the Magi. In other versions of this subject by various artists, different types of expensive luxury items were included in the story thereby reflecting Christian European fascination with the exotic. For example, Andrea Mantegna's The Adoration of the Magi (1462) depicts the three kings presenting the Christ child with novel gifts: Melchior presents an incense censer from Ottoman Turkey, Balthazar holds an agate jar from Persia, and Caspar holds a blue and white Chinese porcelain bowl. The objects represented in these paintings likely referred to similar objects in both royal and ecclesiastical collections, as well as those luxury items far-away lands available at markets in places like Florence and Venice.
New World Gentile Caspar Three Magi The Adoration of the Magi Italian city-states The "Other" Ancient Americas Filippo Lippi Orient tiraz Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi Melchior Botticelli gold Adoration of the Magi Life of Christ in art Life of the Virgin Balthazar