One of a group of wooden sculptures representing the Adoration of the Magi, this figure initially stood behind an altar in a German church. The New Testament account tells of wise men offering gifts to the infant Jesus, but it gives neither the number of individuals nor their ethnicities. Medieval literature and art, however, depict the Magi as three kings from far corners of the known world, including Africa. Trade routes, diplomatic excursions, and increased contact between Europe and Africa in the medieval period led to more images of people of African descent in art, particularly in scenes of this subject. The Magus’ elegant pose and contemporary attire are reminiscent of a medieval royal courtier. For its original audience, this figure represented an imagined African ruler and a reverent, wise man from a distant world.
These three kings (see 52.83.1–.3) along with a seated Virgin and Child formed the central shrine of a large altarpiece with painted wings. The attenuated, elegant figures and the broad drapery patterns are characteristic of Late Gothic sculpture in Swabia. The Virgin and Child are still in the convent for which the altar was made, and the two painted wings-representing, on the outer sides, the Annunciation and the Visitation and, on the inner sides, the Birth and Dormition of the Virgin-are in the Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe. One of the wings is dated 1489 and bears the name of the donatrix, Margarethe, daughter of the margrave Karl I of Baden and abbess of Lichtenthal from 1477 until her death in 1496.
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Artwork Details
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Title:African Magus, one of the Three Kings from an Adoration Group
Date:before 1489
Geography:Made in Swabia, Germany
Culture:German
Medium:Maple, paint and gilt
Dimensions:61 1/2 × 17 × 13 1/4 in., 65 lb. (156.2 × 43.2 × 33.7 cm, 29.5 kg)
Classification:Sculpture-Wood
Credit Line:The Cloisters Collection, 1952
Accession Number:52.83.2
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: Wurfel Verlag, 1935. pp. 74–76.
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.
Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Additions to the Collections." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin: Eighty-Third Annual Report of the Trustees for the Year 1952, n.s., 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. 106, p. 157, fig. 99, 101.
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.
Howard, Kathleen, ed. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1983. no. 32, p. 373.
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.
Howard, Kathleen, ed. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide. 2nd ed. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1994. no. 32, p. 407.
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, fig. 1, 11.
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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