Leonardo was given the commission by the Augustinian monks of San Donato in Scopeto [it] in Florence in 1481, but he departed for Milan the following year, leaving the painting unfinished.

The ruins are a possible reference to the Basilica of Maxentius, which, according to medieval legend, the Romans claimed would stand until a virgin gave birth.

As a part of his diagnostic survey on the Adoration of the Magi, Seracini completed more than 2,400 detailed infrared photographic records of the painting's elaborate underdrawing, and scientific analyses.

[3] The new images revealed by the diagnostic techniques used by Seracini were initially made public in 2002 in an interview with the New York Times reporter Melinda Henneberger.

[6] In the Smithsonian Channel TV program, Da Vinci Detective, Seracini conjectures that, upon seeing the preliminary drawings for the altarpiece they had commissioned, the monks of San Donato rejected it due to the sensational scenario presented to them.

Fully expecting a traditional interpretation including the three wise men, they were instead confronted with a maelstrom of unrelated, half-emaciated figures surrounding the Christ Child, as well as a full-blown battle scene in the rear of the picture.

It was only much later, and probably in the context of the subsequent rise in value of Leonardo's artworks, that the work was resurrected and painted over by unknown persons to make it more salable.

[8] National Geographic's coverage of the painting, after the restoration, offers this commentary:[8]"Leonardo's Adoration of the Magi divulges brushstrokes, colors, and images long hidden under dirt and darkened varnish.

The unfinished painting, commissioned in 1481, also shows evidence of the artist’s thought process, including modifications he made as he worked".