Late Gothic relief

Adoration of the three kings
Rhineland/southern Netherlands
Around 1500/10
Carved wooden relief, original polychromy
43 x 42 cm, with frame 51 x 50 cm

This square relief depicting the Adoration of the Magi shows an aspect of Christ’s salvation story with many carefully added details. This pictorial theme was already depicted on ancient and early Christian sarcophagi and also enjoyed great popularity in the Middle Ages.

Mary, wrapped in a wide cloak with sweeping, voluminous folds, sits in front of the entrance to a stable with the naked infant Jesus on her lap. He is held upright by his mother and opens a casket offered to him. In front of the Madonna are the three wise men from the East in different costumes, who are paying homage to the child. Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar are shown larger: The eldest, an old man with a long beard, kneels before the child and looks at Mary at eye level. The second, a young man without a beard and with short hair, is turned away from this central scene and has turned towards the third king, who is depicted as a “Moor”, seemingly lost in conversation with him. Both have different, magnificent gifts in their hands. The second king refers in a gesture of speech – presumably originally referring to the star – to the stables where Joseph is standing and feeding the ox and donkey. The donkey, whose nostrils are dipping into the bag of food, forms a playful moment in the otherwise reverential presentation.

The scene takes place on a doorstep, with the gable of the stables visually elevating the Holy Family. The city gates through which they first entered are visible behind the three wise men. In the upper part of the picture, in the distance, shepherds are depicted driving their sheep through a hilly, rocky landscape or resting there. This presumably refers to the good news about the birth of Christ, which the angel of the Lord has already brought to the shepherds. The relief panel probably originates from the side wing of an altar retable, where it was integrated into the biblical cycle. The lavish and complex folds suggest that it was created around 1500. The composition is strongly reminiscent of Albrecht Dürer’s woodcut from the Life of Mary with the same subject, which was created around 1503/04. A similar relief can also be found in the Landesmuseum Württemberg (WLM 1963-8).