The Star of the Magi
<p>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.</p>
Catalogue
- Year
- 1611
- Dimensions
- 16.3 × 21.6 cm (6 7/16 × 8 9/16 in.)
- Collection
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Artist
- Jan van de Velde, II
Artist
Printmaking
Jan van de Velde II (Dutch, c.1593-1641)
Full artist profile →More
More by Jan van de Velde, II
Canal with Bridge and Houses
1656 · Red chalk over traces of graphite, on ivory laid paper
Travellers in Front of the Minerva Medica Temple in Rome
1646 · Engraving on cream laid paper
Herd of Cattle at a Ford Near a Watermill
1646 · Engraving on cream laid paper
River Landscape
1646 · Engraving on cream laid paper
Dilapidated Hut, Plate 4 from Landscapes
1646 · Engraving in black on cream laid paper
An Inhabited Ruin on the Bank of a River
1630 · Pen and two shades of brown ink, brush and brown wash, over black chalk; framing lines in pen and brown ink, possibly by the artist
Record
Verified by WattsOS- Artist
- Jan van de Velde, II
- Year
- 1611
- Dimensions
- 16.3 × 21.6 cm (6 7/16 × 8 9/16 in.)
- Watts ID
- WW-1611-123660
Source
- Collection
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Source
- aic
- Reference
- View at source
- Status
- verified