The Adoration of the Magi
Entry ID
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50 (13/01/2022)
Formal title of the work
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The Adoration of the Magi
Description of the sculpture
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A painted and gilded relief panel made of limewood and pine depicting the Adoration of the Magi. On the right side of the panel Balthasar, depicted here as the African Magus, stands holding his cap in his left hand and a gold drinking horn surmounted by a seated lion in his right hand.
URLs where this is recorded/available
Type of object
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Relief panel
Base
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No base
Dimensions
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Height: 129.6 cm
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Width: 121.4 cm
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Depth: 14.8 cm
Materials
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Lime wood / linden
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Wood (unidentified)
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Gold
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Paint / pigment
Specific techniques used
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Carving
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Gilding
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Polychromy
Overall colour
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Polychrome
Does the Black person have a specific identity?
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Identifiable: person from Bible/Christian saint
Identity of Black person (real or fictive)
Attributes
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Golden vessel
Role within sculpture
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Key subsidiary role
Gender
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Male
Age
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Adult
Status
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Royal
Clothing
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Wearing clothes – European/Western clothing
Evidence of enslavement
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None
Evidence of 'exotic' status
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Earrings (often a single pearl)
Action or activity
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Standing
Emotional state
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Neutral/emotionless
Focus of gaze of Black person
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Looking downwards
Sculptural context
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Domestic: Biblical/mythological
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Rural: Biblical/mythological
Sculptor
Place of production
Period of production
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Sixteenth century (1500-1599)
Date of Production
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c. 1500 - 1520
Date inferred from
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Inferred from dates when sculptor is active
Original purpose
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Devotional
Original display setting
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Sacred: convent/monastery
Current owner
Current / most recently known location
Accession number
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2418-1856
Provenance history
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1856: acquired by South Kensington Museum, London (now named the Victoria and Albert Museum)
Notes
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This panel was probably displayed in one of the monasteries in the Swiss canton of Thurgau. They were dissolved in 1848 when Switzerland was reorganising itself under a new federal-style government.
Current rights holder
License terms for reuse
http://13.41.147.145/s/database/item/43, . (no date) ‘The Adoration of the Magi’, Black People in European Sculpture, accessed May 5, 2025, http://13.41.147.145/s/database/item/448
