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How may Halley’s Comet have influenced Giotto’s painting The Adoration of the Magi?
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Edmond Halley
Edmond Halley, detail of an oil painting by Richard Phillips, c. 1720; in the National Portrait Gallery, London.
The Italian painter Giotto di Bondone is believed to have been inspired by his personal observation of Halley’s Comet during its passage in 1301.12
In his 1305–06 fresco, The Adoration of the Magi, Giotto incorporated a realistic depiction of a comet to represent the Star of Bethlehem within the Nativity scene. This artistic choice replaced more traditional representations of the star, grounding the biblical account in the artist's own experience of the celestial phenomenon.12