Scripture · Matthew 2:14-15
Matthew 2:9-10
The Three Kings See the Star
After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stood over the place where the Child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with great delight.
Travelers in elaborate dress emerge from a dark wood and lift their hands toward light falling across an open landscape.
About the artwork
The raised arms and the sudden opening in the trees turn the journey into a moment of discovery. Red garments and a feathered hat give these travelers a pageantry quite different from the working families in many of Uhde’s Gospel paintings. The scene shows the Magi on the road, before their encounter with Mary and the child.
Uhde’s early biographer Hans Rosenhagen described the fantastic costumes and fairy-tale atmosphere of this 1896 painting. Unlike the plain rooms and village lanes of Uhde’s other biblical scenes, this wooded world keeps the travelers unfamiliar. The forest takes up so much of the picture that the opening into light becomes an event in itself: the travelers have something to discover before they have a child to adore.
Featured in: Fritz von Uhde’s Bible Paintings: Jesus at the Peasants’ Table, and Why It Was Called Blasphemous
What does Matthew 2:9-10 mean?
In Matthew 2, the Magi arrive from the east seeking the king of the Jews. After their meeting with Herod in Jerusalem, the star goes before them toward the place where the child is. Verses 9–10 pause over the travelers’ great joy before describing their entry into the house and their gifts.
Uhde concentrates on that pause of recognition. Matthew does not give the travelers’ number, name them kings, or describe their clothing; those familiar elements belong to later artistic tradition. The painting’s dramatic light gives visible form to the joy expressed in the passage.
Matthew 2:9–10 places the scene between the Magi’s departure from Herod and their arrival before the child.
Sources
whereabouts unknown (in 1908: Rudolf Hübel, Obermais near Meran); oil on canvas. Recorded with Rudolf Hübel, Obermais near Meran, in 1908; present location not established. Rosenhagen discusses the fantastic costumes and fairy-tale atmosphere. Distinct from the Magdeburg composition at Mary’s window.
Fritz von Uhde’s Bible Paintings: Jesus at the Peasants’ Table, and Why It Was Called Blasphemous. Artwork reading adapted from this guide.
Matthew 2 — Berean Standard Bible. Context for Matthew 2:9-10.
Also from Matthew:Marriage of the VirginThe Dream of Saint Joseph
Continue looking:The Three Wise MenThe Flight into EgyptSaint Michael the Archangel