[12] Messrs. Crowe and Cavalcaselle suggest that these two figures may possibly be intended to represent the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah.
[13] ‘Historical and Monumental Rome,’ by C. J. Hemans, chap. xv.
[14] ‘Primus dicitur fuisse Melchior, qui senex et canus, barbâ prolixâ et capillis, aurum obtulit Regi Domino. Secundus nomine Gaspar, juvenis imberbis, rubicundus, thure quasi Deo oblatione dignâ, Deum honoravit. Tertius fuscus, integre barbatus, Baltassar nomine, per myrrham Filium hominis moriturum professus.’
[15] In fourteenth and fifteenth century paintings, especially among the Germans, Balthazar was often a Moor or negro, the tradition being that he was King of Ethiopia or Nubia. Ghirlandajo, in a picture at the Pitti Gallery, gives him, not a black complexion, but a black page. The difference of race indicated in the representations of the Three Kings implies the wideness of the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles. On this account the three sons of Noah have been looked upon as typical of them.
[16] Smith’s ‘Dictionary of the Bible.’
[17] Commentary of Cornelius à Lapide, translated by Mossman, vol. i. Others have extended the period of their arrival at Bethlehem even to some time in the second year after the birth of Christ, as an inference from Matt. ii. 16. According to a tradition of the Eastern Church, the Magi arrived at Jerusalem with a retinue of 1,000 men, having left an army of 7,000 on the further bank of the Euphrates.
[18] The Milanese afterwards consoled themselves by forming a confraternity, which showed their veneration for the Three Kings by a special annual performance.
[19] For these references to the heraldry of the Three Kings, I have to thank my valued friend, Mr. Everard Green, F.S.A., whose knowledge of the subject is unique.
[20] Foster’s Chapel, Bristol, founded in 1504, is dedicated to the Three Kings. In Winchester Cathedral are traces of a painting of the Adoration.
[21] The names of the Kings are variously spelt.