ID: 700009131 Page link: http://vocab.getty.edu/page/cona/700009131	Record Type: Movable Work
Images: 1 2

One of the Three Magi, possibly Balthasar (painting (visual work); Sir Peter Paul Rubens; ca. 1618; Museum Plantin-Moretus (Antwerp, Antwerpen province, Flander...; unavailable)

Note: Balthasar, the African king, is typically associated with the gift of myrrh, the aromatic resin used in embalming. Symbolically the presentation of this gift foreshadowed the death of Christ, a motif Rubens further exploited by encapsulating the myrrh in a small chest resembling a sarcophagus, from which a light emanates, alluding to the Resurrection. Rubens based the figure in this painting on his copy after a now-lost 16th-century portrait of a Tunisian king. Balthasar Moretus, a close childhood friend of Rubens, commissioned the painting, and two others of the other magi, around 1618. Moretus and his two brothers were named after the Three Magi (Balthasar, Melchior, and Gaspar), thus these works had a special personal meaning for both the artist and his patron. Rubens executed these bust-length images with strong colors and vigorous brushstrokes that bring these biblical figures to life.

Titles:

One of the Three Magi, possibly Balthasar (preferred,C,U,DE,English-P,U,U)

Catalog Level: item

Work Types:

painting (visual work) [300033618] (preferred)

..... (Objects Facet, Visual and Verbal Communication (hierarchy name), Visual Works (hierarchy name), visual works (works), <visual works by material or technique>)

Classifications:

paintings (preferred)

Creation Date: ca. 1618

Creator Display:

Sir Peter Paul Rubens [preferred,NGA-US,VP]

painter Rubens, Peter Paul (Flemish painter, 1577-1640) [500002921]

patron Moretus, Balthasar (Flemish printer, 1574-1641) [500342356]

Locations:

Current: Museum Plantin-Moretus (Antwerp, Antwerpen province, Flanders, Belgium) [500305541] Corporate Bodies (Corp. Body)

Repository Numbers: unavailable

Display Materials: oil on panel

	oil paint (paint) [300015050]
	.......(Materials Facet, Materials (hierarchy name), materials (substances), <materials by function>, coating (material), <coating by form>, paint (coating), <paint by composition or origin>)

	panel (wood by form) [300014657]
	.......(Materials Facet, Materials (hierarchy name), materials (substances), <materials by origin>, biological material, plant material, <wood and wood by product>, wood (plant material), <wood by form or function>)

Dimensions: unavailable

General Subject:

religion and mythology (preferred)

portraits

Specific Subjects:

	Balthasar [901000091]
	.....((Christian characters, Christian iconography, Legend, Religion, Mythology)) (ICON)

	bust (general, figure) [300047457]
	.....(Objects Facet, Visual and Verbal Communication (hierarchy name), Visual Works (hierarchy name), visual works (works), <visual works by subject type>, figures (representations), <figures by portion represented>) (AAT)

List/Hierarchical Position:

..... Movable Works

.......... Movable Works by class: drawings, paintings, prints, other two-dimensional media

Sources and Contributors:
One of the Three Magi, possibly Balthasar	........ [VP]
	........ National Gallery of Art Reunites Rubens' Magi (2015) accessed 13 February 2018

Subject: ....... [VP]

....................... National Gallery of Art Reunites Rubens' Magi (2015)

....................... Museum Plantin-Moretus [online] (2014-)

Note:
English	..... [VP]
	..... National Gallery of Art Reunites Rubens' Magi (2015) accessed 13 February 2018