The Star of the Magi

Art Institute of Chicago

The Star of the Magi

Jan van de Velde IILinkedCulture matchlcp-65b9ded552da

Date
c. 1616
Medium
Engraving in black on ivory laid paper
Culture
Holland
Department
Prints and Drawings
Institution
Art Institute of Chicago
Object ID
80187

Here Jan van de Velde the Younger engraved the earliest known print of so-called star-singers on Twelfth Night. This secular celebration mimicked the journey of the Three Magi, or kings, who followed the miraculous star of Bethlehem to the infant Christ. Popular in the 17th-century Dutch Republic, this Epiphany festival, held on January 6, grew beyond the church. It consisted of two parts: an indoor family feast crowning a king chosen by lottery, and a nighttime parade of singers carrying a candle-lit star from door to door. Unlike the generous Magi, the singers demanded gifts as they progressed, illuminated by their glowing paper star.

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Credit line
Gift of Langdon Pearse

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Object type
AAT300041273

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