Caspar, after the "Three Magi" series by Jacques Bellange

Caspar, after the "Three Magi" series by Jacques Bellange

Jacques Bellange

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Caspar was one of the three foreign Magi (or Three Wise Men) who, according to the Bible, traveled to Bethlehem to adore the newborn Jesus and to offer gifts. Caspar, the bearer of gold, was the oldest of the three. Traditionally the gift of gold signifies Christ’s kingship. This print is copied in reverse from an etching by Bellange that represented Balthasar, a different king. However, as Bellange did not identify his figures by inscription, there is some uncertainty, not least because the copies by Merian, such as this print, are inscribed with identifications that contradict the usual iconography.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Caspar, after the "Three Magi" series by Jacques BellangeCaspar, after the "Three Magi" series by Jacques BellangeCaspar, after the "Three Magi" series by Jacques BellangeCaspar, after the "Three Magi" series by Jacques BellangeCaspar, after the "Three Magi" series by Jacques Bellange

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.