SCHONGAUER, Martin
(b. ca. 1430, Colmar, d. 1491, Breisach)

Adoration of the Magi

c. 1475
Copperplate engraving, 256 x 168 mm
Staatliche Museen, Berlin

The artist has taken ideas from the St Columba Altarpiece by Rogier van der Weyden (Alte Pinakothek, Munich) and handled them in his own way. The models for the ruined stable and the figure of the central king in particular are easily identifiable. The scene is as concentrated as Rogier's, but more naturalistic and modern in its spatial development. Different colours and material textures, such as the eldest king's velvet robe, are very well suggested in the engraving.