The 3 Kings

The 3 Kings bring gifts to the baby Jesus on Mary’s lap. They appear here as a youth, an adult and an old man. Notice that the kneeling figure isn’t wearing a crown and that all 3 have fair skin. The term 3 Kings applies to the Christian tradition of the 3 Wise Men from the East, mentioned in the Gospel according to Matthew. In the 3rd century various legends about them arise; their number, king-status and names can be traced back to this period. In art, they are often portrayed in these advancing stages of life, a development of the idea of their being 3. “The first is supposed to have been Melchior, an aged man with a white beard, the second Caspar, a clean-faced youth, the third Balthazar, with a dark, full beard” writes Beda Venerabilis in 730. It’s interesting to note that the Latin word for dark, fuscus, applies here to the beard of the third king and not, as more modern pictures of him tend to show, his skin colour.