In the Middle Ages, three men bearing precious gifts were easily recognizable as the Three Magi who presented treasures to the infant Jesus on the twelfth day after his birth. The figures appeared only as "wise men from the East" in the Gospels, but their stories were embellished over the centuries until they came to represent three continents and three stages of life: the youthful African king, graceful and beardless; the middle-aged European king, mature and powerful; and the aging Asian king, bald and wise. Together they reflect a medieval Christian worldview in which far-flung empires could be united in submission to divine power.
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Artwork Details
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Title:European King from an Adoration Group
Date:before 1489
Geography:Made in Swabia, Germany
Culture:German
Medium:Poplar with paint and gilding
Dimensions:64 1/2 × 25 × 13 1/2 in., 68 lb. (163.8 × 63.5 × 34.3 cm, 30.8 kg)
Classification:Sculpture-Vessels
Credit Line:The Cloisters Collection, 1952
Object Number:52.83.3
From the high altar of the Cistercian abbey, Lichtenthal, near Baden-Baden, Baden-Württemberg; Dutch or German Private Collection ; Sotheby's, London (July 28, 1939, no. 103) ; [ John Hunt, Ireland (1939–sold 1952)]
Badisches Landesmuseum Karlsruhe. "Spätgotik am Oberrhein: Meisterwerke der Plastik und des Kunsthandwerks 1450-1530," July 4–October 5, 1970.
Cologne. Museum Schnütgen. "Die Heiligen Drei Könige: Mythos, Kunst und Kult," October 25, 2014–January 25, 2015.
Baum, Julius. "Niederländische Einwirkungen auf die Ulmer Malerei des späten 15. Jahrhunderts." Oud Holland 52 (1935). p. 29.
Huth, Hans. "Ein Verlorener Stich des Meisters E.S.." In Adolph Goldschmidt zu seinem siebenzigsten Geburtstag, am Januar 1933. Berlin: Würfel Verlag, 1935. pp. 74–76.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Eighty-Third Annual Report of the Trustees for the Fiscal Year 1952-1953." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, n.s., 12, no. 4 (Summer 1953). p. 17.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "'Additions to the Collections,' Eighty-Third Annual Report of the Trustees for the Year 1952." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 12, no. 1 (Summer 1953). p. 17.
Rorimer, James J. "Three Kings from Lichtenthal." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 12, no. 4 (December 1953). pp. 81–91.
Rorimer, James J. The Cloisters: The Building and the Collection of Medieval Art in Fort Tryon Park. 3rd revised ed. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1963. p. 200, fig. 98.
Lauts, Jan. Schwäbischer Meister 1489: Geburt und Tod Mariä, zwei Altarflügel aus Kloster Lichtenthal. Karlsruhe: Staatliche Kunsthalle, 1966. fig. 10.
Müller, Theodor. Sculpture in the Netherlands, Germany, France and Spain. Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1966. p. 110.
Petrasch, Ernst, ed. Spätgotik am Oberrhein: Meisterwerke der Plastik und des Kunsthandwerks, 1450-1530. Karlsruhe: Badisches Landesmuseum Karlsruhe, 1970. no. 107, p. 157, fig. 99.
Petrasch, Ernst. "Spätgotik am Oberrhein: Meisterwerke der Plastik und des Kunsthandwerks 1450-1530." Jahrbuch der Staatlichen Kunstsammlungen in Baden-Württemberg 9 (1972). pp. 133–34, fig. 34.
Shepard, Mary B. Europe in the Middle Ages, edited by Charles T. Little, and Timothy B. Husband. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1987. p. 148, pl. 136.
Wixom, William D. "Medieval Sculpture at The Cloisters." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, n.s., 46, no. 3 (Winter 1988-1989). pp. 18–19.
Young, Bonnie. A Walk Through The Cloisters. 5th ed. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1988. p. 135.
Vey, Horst, Dietmar Lüdke, and Ines Dresel. Christus und Maria : Auslegungen christlicher Gemälde der Spätgotik und Frührenaissance aus der Karlsruher Kunsthalle : Ausstellung 6. Juni bis 20. September 1992, Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe. Karlsruhe: Staatliche Kunsthalle, 1992. pp. 93–94, fig. 106.
Von der Erde zum Himmel: Heiligendarstellungen des Spätmittelalters aus dem Suermondt-Ludwig-Museum: Eine Ausstellung des Suermondt-Ludwig-Museums im Krönungssaal des Aachener Rathauses, 17. Juni-8. August 1993. Aachen: Suermondt-Ludwig-Museum, 1993. p. 78.
Fisher, Sally. The Square Halo and Other Mysteries of Western Art: Images and the Stories that Inspire Them. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1995. p. 58.
Krimm, Konrad. "Die Markgrafen von Baden und ihr Hauskloster im 15. und 16. Jahrhundert." In 750 Jahre Zisterzienserinnen-Abtei Lichtenthal Faszination eines Klosters: Ausstellung des Badischen Landesmuseum, 25. Februar bis 21. Mai, 1995, Karlsruhe Schloss, edited by Harald Siebenmorgen. Karlsruhe: Badisches Landesmuseum, 1995. pp. 73–75.
Barnet, Peter, and Nancy Y. Wu. The Cloisters: Medieval Art and Architecture. 75th Anniversary ed. New York and New Haven: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2012. p. 150.
Kargère, Lucretia Goddard, and Michele D. Marincola. "Conservation in Context: The Examination and Treatment of Medieval Polychrome Wood Sculpture in the United States." Metropolitan Museum Studies in Art, Science, and Technology 2 (2014). pp. 12, 21, 32, fig. 1, 11, 19.
Beer, Manuela, and Moritz Woelk, ed. The Magi: Legend, Art and Cult. Munich: Hirmer Verlag, 2014. no. 122, pp. 21, 304–5.
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