#biblical magi

[thunderstruck9]

Glyn Philpot (British, 1884-1937), Balthazar, 1929. Oil on canvas, 24 x 20 in.

[rabbitprayer]

vintage christmas card

[artandthebible]

Adoration of the Magi

Artist: Denys Calvaert  (Flemish, c. 1540–1619) 

Date: c. 1575–1575

Medium: Oil on copper

Collection: Private collection

Description

As a subject in art, the Adoration of the Magi illustrates the events described in Matthew 2:1–12

The Magi Visit the Messiah

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:

‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’

Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”

After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

[majestativa]

And still, only you can surpass the Demoiselles d’Avignon, Pietas, Resurrections, the smile of the Madonna, Broadway Boogie-Woogie, The Parable of the Blind, triptych of the Garden of Earthly Delights, the three wise kings from the East, the bull of Altamira, the Green Fiddler, Guernica and Michelangelo, why not!

Raša Livada, The Horse Has Six Legs: An Anthology of Serbian Poetry

[carlesstries]

Los Reyes Mahous!!!

[erat-olim]

The Three Magi, Byzantine mosaic c. 565, Basilica of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna, Italy (restored during the 18th century). As here Byzantine art usually depicts the Magi in Persian clothing which includes breeches, capes, and Phrygian caps.

Source: Wikimedia

[carlesstries]

[mask131]

When there is a given set of elements, limited and numbered, there is always a temptation to add just one more... An outsider. A fifth element. A fifth cardinal direction. A fifth season...

... or a fourth Wise Man. Epiphany falling on this day, I want to highlight the recurring-ness of the idea of a "fourth Magus". Mind you, it is a well-known fact that the Bible never specified the number of Magi - the idea of them being three is rather a popular tradition that stuck thanks to the symbology. (Three gifts, for three continents, for three ages of man, for three functions...).

But the idea of a fourth Wise Man, or a fourth "Mage King", has been running around, one beyond Caspar, Balthazar and Melchior... The oldest and most famous example is of course Henry van Dyke's 1895 story, "The Other Wise Man" which became one of the most famous "Christmas tales" of old. It got adapted many, MANY times - rewritten for children, turned into theater plays or operas, even being two TV-movies... And it settled in recent popular culture the idea that the fourth Wise Man was, like the others, a Magus from Persia: Artaban the Mede, priest and prince. His gifts were three gems, a sapphire, a ruby and a pearl (though later variations and retellings could change this - sometimes the pearl becomes a diamond, sometimes he has three pearls of different colors...). But he arrived late in Bethlehem and missed the Holy Family who was already fleeing to Egypt. He spent 33 years on the traces of Jesus, following him without ever catching him, losing his retinue and his wealth in the process - and also losing the gifts he had planned. So that he only saw Jesus when he was crucified, and empty-handed... Plus the moment he assisted to the Crucifixion he died of a falling roof-tile, so talk of a bummer.

Yet Jesus accepted him, thanked him and allowed him into Heaven - because while he had lost the three gems, he had done so for very good reasons and through charitable work. The sapphire was used to help an old, sick, dying man to leave this world in peace ; the ruby was used to save the life of a boy during Herod's massacre, and the pearl was used to prevent a girl from being sold into slavery.

This American story notably was loosely rewritten in German by Edzard Schaper in 1962, resulting in "Der vierte König", The Fourth King, where the story is almost the same but with some changes - quite notably the fourth king is now Russian (and in an interview Michel Tournier claims Schaper took inspiration from an actual claim by the Orthodox Church members who said there was a Russian wise man, so that the Orthodox religion could have a representation in what was seen as too-Catholic). Michel Tournier also pointed out how this idea of a "wise man" and "king from the great Frozen North" spending his time travelling to deliver a gift can remind one of Father Christmas, aka Santa Claus. And indeed I have seen several times people bring out the idea that Santa Claus is actually the Fourth Wise Man... Tom Holt's "Grailblazers" was a parody of this (as Santa Claus was cursed to deliver gifts for eternity because he had a lousy offering to baby Jesus - a pair of socks too big for him), but I have seen it used frequently in religiously-motivated kids books, where the existence of a "Santa Claus" is presented as the consequence of a remorseful fourth Wise Man catching up for missing the Nativity...

... In a way that is very reminiscent, of course, of the legend of the Befana for anybody who has some basic knowledge of Italian traditions. In this sense, la Befana could be considered an unofficial "fourth Wise Man" or rather "Wise Woman". In France there are also many, many talks of a Russian equivalent to the Befana, a "Babuchka" that is also a gift-giver of the winter season, and is also an old lady who missed an offer to join the Wise Men and brings toys to kids to make up for not going to see little Jesus... Yet I have not to this day found any serious or more in-depth resource about the existence of this Russian "Grandma" so I won't go further into this.

But why did I bring up Michel Tournier, earlier? Well, because he is the final part of the chain of "Fourth Wise Men"! See, Michel Tournier was aware and took inspiration of both works (The Other Wise Man, Der vierte König) to write his own novel that became a classic in French literature - "Gaspard, Melchior et Balthazar". In English it got translated as "The Four Wise Men".

This 1980 novel is actually a full retelling of the travels and adventures of the other three Wise Men. Tournier reinvented their characters and showed them as living independant existences, starting their narrative motivated or driven by a materialistic principle or a specific virtue, before meeting each other and joining in a journey that becomes more and more philosophical, religious, and mystical, culminating in their Adoration. Gaspard of Meroe is presented as a king of Nubia motivated by "Love" - for he feels an obsessive desire for a White slave of his (cut to extensively quoting and playing with The Song of Songs as there are talks of attraction-repulsion in Biblical context between Black and White). Melchior of Palmyra is a prince of Syria driven by "Power", because he was dethroned, banished, and is reduced to poverty as he must hide in disguises from those that seek to kill him. And Balthazar of Nippur is an old Babylonian king fascinated with "Beauty", who spent his life finding ways to capture, trap, reproduce and preserve beautiful things - only to fall into depression when the museum he spent his whole life building is destroyed by religious fanatics who consider that every image is a sin.

What about the fourth one? Well he is Taor of Mangalore, a prince from the "realm of sugar" who leaves Southern India because of... his own sweet-tooth, as he is on a quest to find the recipe of a specific delicacy he is very fond of, the rahat-lukum (pistacho flavor). He arrives one day late for the Adoration, but then spends his time in Bethlehem organizing a feast of sweets for the children (for he is very alarmed upon seeing how skinny they all are). Continuing his journey and losing half of his retinue to the salt desert surrounding the ruins of Sodom, he ends up taking upon himself the heavy debts of a poor family - which leads to Taor sacrificing himself and spending thirty years in the salt mines of Sodom. Once he is free he, like in previous versions, arrives in time for the Crucifixion - but he stumbles upon the leftovers of the Last Supper, and ends up being the first to practice the Eucharist ritual, eating the bread and the wine right after Jesus' death - illustrating the principle "the last shall be the first".