The two biblical scenes most commonly depicted in art come from the New Testament, from the Gospels of St Matthew and St Luke. They are The Nativity of Jesus (Matthew 1:18-25 and Luke 2: 1-7) and The Adoration of the Magi (Matthew 2:1-12).

Although the Bible only speaks of magi, or wise men, who present Christ with gold, frankincense and myrrh, Christian literature and art transformed these into three kings, one of whom was subsequently represented as a Black African or Arab (Moor).The arrival of these secular sovereigns bringing gifts to the Christ Child is regarded as an acknowledgement of Jesus’ task in the world. The New Covenant was concluded between Christ, God’s son incarnate, and all other peoples and individuals.’

Adoration of the Magi. Panel from a Roman sarcophagus, 4th century CE.
From the cemetary of St. Agnes in Rome. Museo Pio Christiano

In works of art the kings could function as more than one symbol. They could represent the regions of the world, the ages of man, ambassadors of peace, wealth from faraway, foreign countries, trade with these countries and more.

Two examples

Nijmegen school Koning Balthazar ca. 1483 O/ p 40 x 24 cm
Collection Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

Although this Black King is called Balthazar by the Rijksmuseum, others dub him Caspar or even Melchior. The picture is one of the earliest paintings of the African King on panel from the Netherlands and an unusual one to boot. This small panel is probably a fragment from a larger Adoration of the Magi. The Rijksmuseum owns what may be a companion fragment, showing one of the other two Kings.

The maker displays a close affinity with the Master of the St Bartholomew Altar from Cologne 1475 –1480 

See http://www.getty.edu/art/gettyguide/artObjectDetails?artobj=1091&handle=li

The African King stands in an early Renaissance- style landscape. Behind him is the road he has just taken. On bended knee before and slightly to the side of the King is a black male attendant, handing him his gift which is contained in a splendidly mounted ox horn on a lobed stand, presumably made of gold.

During the late Middle Ages this kind of showy object was prominently displayed in the chambers of guilds, rhetoricians, city councils and courts. Maybe this object contains the Myrrr

The artist has paid a great deal of attention to these two gentlemen and their elegant, almost choreographed interaction. The attendant wears a gold earring in his ear and his oriental hat has a scarf wound around its rim. The King has nothing in his ear; which is unusual for Black Kings, he wears a combination of a Hungarian hat (sometimes known as a cuman) with a crown and simple, western clothing – a sleeveless tunic, a shirt, an undershirt, hose and pointed shoes. His costume is remarkably plain: he has no mantle with a train and the length of his footwear is modest in comparison with that of Black Kings in other paintings.

This simplicity may indicate that the work was made for a monastic order which lived according to a sober rule.

Although the identity of the artist is unknown, the panel can be situated in Nijmegen. It also compares with miniatures from the same period by artists such Loyset Liedet 1420 –1479, which employ the same simplicity and feature the same fifteenth-century clothing, at a time when contemporaries working in oil on panel, such as Hans Memling (c. 1433 –1494) and Hieronymus Bosch (c. 1450 –1516), were actually decking out their Kings in rich and fanciful costumes. Esther Schreuder  With thanks to Errol van de Werdt

Speisetische und Stollenschrank. Loyset Liedet (gest. 1478): Bankett aus Anlaß der Hochzeit von Renaud de Montauban, Miniatur aus der Histoire de Sainte Hélène von Jean Wauquelin, Paris, Bibliothèque de l‘ Arsenal