The Adoration of the Magi

Unknown

ca. 1290–1300 · Pot-metal glass and vitreous paint · The Cloisters

The convent church in Altenberg-an-der-Lahn in its present form was begun between 1250 and 1267 under the abbacy of Gertrud von Nassau (d. 1297), and construction continued until about 1280. These panels (acc. nos. 2003.478.1, .2), executed shortly thereafter, came from the apsidal window. Removed during the secularizations, they became the property in 1804 of Graf Franz von Erbach, who had them installed in his private funerary chapel at Schloss Erbach, where they remained until about 1940. The panels join two more representing the Annunciation that originally came from the same window and were acquired by The Cloisters in 1993 (acc. nos. 1993.251.1, .2). The distinctive style is characterized by the monumentality and bold outlines of the animated figures along with the somewhat archaized treatment of the draperies.

Artist

Unknown

Date

ca. 1290–1300

Medium

Pot-metal glass and vitreous paint

Culture

German

Department

The Cloisters

Credit line

The Cloisters Collection, 2003