Adoration of the Magi

Emperor Frederick III died in 1493, more than ten years before this picture was painted, and yet he is in it. He is the old man seen in profile, wearing a hat banded with gold beads. The crowned king beside him has the face of his son, Maximilian I, who ruled the Holy Roman Empire when the picture was made, around 1505 to 1508. Maximilian turns his head away from the Child, toward the edge where the third king once stood, and points back at the Child with his forefinger, as if showing the latecomer the way. That figure was lost when the panel was later cut down. In the foreground the oldest king kneels in a red cloak and offers a golden cup, and the infant reaches into it with one small hand.