Head of One of the Three Kings: Melchior, The Assyrian King

c. 1618

Sir Peter Paul Rubens

Painter, Flemish, 1577 - 1640

Shown from the chest up, a man with peach-colored skin sits in profile facing our left with downcast eyes in this vertical painting. He has a chestnut-brown beard and hair, brown eyes under thick brows, a slightly bumped nose, and pale, coral-pink lips. His nose and cheeks are tinged with pink. His robe is vibrant rose pink over the shoulders and scarlet red over his arms. The two colors are separated by a band of gold fringe. A bright, zigzagging line along the neckline could be a necklace or the edge of a white collar. He holds a lidded vessel near his left shoulder, closer to us. One hand tips the lid off the rounded bowl held in his other hand, which is cut off by the bottom edge of the canvas. The cup and lid are embellished with a row of bulging bosses around their edges. Inside the vessel is a glimpse of rounded, dark brown objects. The man is lit from the upper left, and the background is a mottled olive green and ginger brown.

Media Options

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Peter Paul Rubens painted this compelling image of one of the three Magi around 1618 for his childhood friend Balthasar Moretus the Elder (1574–1641), owner of the prestigious Plantin Press in Antwerp. Traditionally identified as Melchior, the Assyrian king, this profile image of a middle-aged man with a full beard is not shown as an exotic king from a distant past but as a tangible flesh and blood figure with a powerful three-dimensional presence. Wearing a sumptuous scarlet robe, he has just started to open his gilded vessel, revealing his gift of frankincense. Biblical commentators interpreted Melchior's gift, which was burnt as incense in biblical times, as representing sacrifice, prayer, and the recognition of Christ's divine majesty.

This painting was one of five images that Rubens painted for Moretus at that time. The other four represented the Virgin and Child; Joseph; and the other two Magi: the Greek king, traditionally named Gaspar; and the Ethiopian king, traditionally named Balthasar. Like many citizens in Antwerp, Balthasar Moretus and his brothers were named after the three kings—in the hope, according to their father, that they would "seek to do honor and glory to Him after the example of the Three Kings." Three paternal uncles also bore the names Balthasar, Gaspar, and Melchior. The family affinity for the kings is also evident in Balthasar Moretus's personal motto, stella duce ("with the star as guide"), and he even incorporated the star of the Magi into printer's marks for Plantin Press publications, some of which were designed by Rubens.

Beyond the associations of the Magi to Balthasar Moretus, the biblical account of the Adoration of the Magi was deeply meaningful to the pious Rubens, who painted the subject at least twelve times. It was also an important theme for Antwerp, the great international port that welcomed so many distant travelers, as the Magi had been.

On View

West Building Main Floor, Gallery 45

Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on panel transferred to canvas

  • Credit Line

    Chester Dale Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 66.8 x 51.5 cm (26 5/16 x 20 1/4 in.)
    framed: 90.8 x 75.6 cm (35 3/4 x 29 3/4 in.)

  • Accession

    1943.7.9

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Balthasar Moretus the Elder [1574-1641], Antwerp; by inheritance to his nephew, Balthasar Moretus the Younger [1615-1674], Antwerp. Graaf Van de Werve de Vosselaer, Antwerp; (his sale, Antwerp, March 1781 [sold together with The Greek Magus and The Ethiopian Magus]);[1] Graaf de Roose, Antwerp; by inheritance to his wife, Graavin de Roose, Antwerp; (her estate sale, at her residence, Antwerp, 8 May 1798, no. 5, bought in by her daughter, Graavin de Beauffort);[2] by inheritance through the family de Beauffort to Comtesse Amedée de Beauffort, née de Roose de Baisy, Paris; (sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 10 April 1876, no. 2);[3] John Waterloo Wilson [1815-1883], Brussels and Paris; (his sale, at his residence, Paris, 14-16 March 1881, no. 98); Léon Gauchez [1825-1907], Paris.[4] private collection, London; (sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 13 July 1889, no. 55 [sold together with The Greek Magus); Pryor.[5] Boesch collection, Vienna. (sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 4 June 1891, no. 43); (Bourgeois & Cie, Paris).[6] (Durand-Ruel, Paris); sold 1892 to Charles H. Senff [d. 1911], New York and Whitestone, Long Island; (his estate sale, Anderson Galleries, 28-29 March 1928, 2nd day, no. 20); Charles Senff's niece, Mrs. Louise Senff Cameron, New Windsor, New York; (sale, Anderson Galleries, New York, 9-11 April 1929, 2nd day, no. 154); Chester Dale [1883-1962], New York; gift 1943 to NGA.
[1] See Max Rooses, "Petrus-Paulus Rubens en Balthasar Moretus," Bulletin-Rubens 1 & 2, 1882-1883: 2(1883): 210. These three paintings remained together until the sale of John Wilson's collection in 1881. See note 4.
[2] According to Max Rooses, L'Oeuvre de P.P. Rubens: Histoire et Description de ses Tableaux et Dessins, 5 vols., Antwerp, 1886-1892: 1(1886): 225, although in an annotated copy of the auction catalog in the Frick Library, the buyer, who purchased all of the Rubens in the sale, is given as Me(s or r)ti(n or r)s. While this inscription is difficult to decipher, all subsequent literature, most significantly the catalogue of the Wilson sale of 1881, supports Rooses' assertion that the painting stayed within the family de Beaufort.
[3] See Rooses 1886-1892, 1(1886): 225.
[4] The identity of the painting's buyer is not entirely certain. Rooses 1882-1883, 2(1883): 209, states that Gauchez acquired both this painting and the Mage Grec and that the amounts he paid were respectively 15,500 Ffr. and 20,000 Ffr. In that same publication, Rooses identifies the buyer of the Mage Ithiopien as Petit, Paris, and indicates that the painting was sold for 17,600 Ffr. An annotated copy of the sales catalogue in the NGA Library confirms this information, and gives the name as "G. Petit." However, Rooses 1886-1892, 1(1886): 225, identifies the buyer of the first two paintings as M. Le Roy, and quotes a somewhat different price for the Mage Assyrien (15,100 Ffr.). He also identifies the buyer of the Mage Ithiopien as M. Secretan and notes that the price fetched by the painting was 17,000 Ffr. Another annotated copy of the sales catalogue, in the Knoedler Library French Sales microfiche, lists the prices as those quoted in Rooses 1882-1883, but does not indicate the names of the purchasers.
[5] Details of the sale, the buyer, and the amount paid for the painting are found in a newspaper clipping preserved in the Knoedler Library British Sales microfiche copy of the sales catalogue.
[6] According to annotated sales catalogue in the NGA Library.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1873

  • Exposition de tableaux et dessins d'anciens maîtres, La société néerlandaise de bienfaisance, Brussels, 1873, no. 153.

1931

  • Renoir and His Tradition, Museum of French Art, French Institute in the United States, New York, 1931, no. 2.

1936

  • An Exhibition of Sixty Paintings and Some Drawings by Peter Paul Rubens, Detroit Institute of Arts, 1936, no. 13.

1939

  • Masterpieces of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture from 1300-1800, New York World's Fair, 1939, no. 327.

1965

  • The Chester Dale Bequest, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1965, unnumbered checklist.

2015

  • Peter Paul Rubens: The Three Magi Reunited, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2015, no catalogue.

Bibliography

1943

  • Washington Times-Herald (18 July 1943): C-10.

1965

  • Paintings other than French in the Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 13, repro.

  • Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 118.

1968

  • National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 106, repro.

1975

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 312, repro.

1985

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 360, repro.

2005

  • Wheelock, Arthur K., Jr. Flemish Paintings of the Seventeenth Century. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 2005: 183-188, color repro.

2020

  • Libby, Alexandra. “From Personal Treasures to Public Gifts: The Flemish Painting Collection at the National Gallery of Art.” In America and the Art of Flanders: Collecting Paintings by Rubens, Van Dyck, and their Circles, edited by Esmée Quodbach. The Frick Collection Studies in the History of Art Collecting in America 5. University Park, 2020: 137.

Wikidata ID

Q20176967

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