Rebecca Howard received both her PhD in Early Modern Art History and MA in Western Art History from The Ohio State University and her BA from Christopher Newport University in Virginia. Her research interests include portraiture, questions of identity, early modern neuroscience and anatomy, word and image theory, and early modern mnemonic tactics and commemorative devices.
The intimate Magi Chapel still dazzles its visitors with its vividly painted frescoes and gold leaf that show the three Magi and members of the Medici family—and more
This altarpiece—made for the Medici palace chapel—depicts both a biblical scene, that of the Nativity (the moments immediately following the birth of Jesus Christ), as well as an inspiration to pious prayer.