Some Wise Men came from the East to Jerusalem and asked: “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the East and have come to worship him.” When King Herod and all Jerusalem heard this, they were greatly disturbed. He immediately called together the chief priests and the teachers of the law and asked them where the Messiah was to be born. They told him: “In Bethlehem of Judah, for this is what the prophet has written.” [...] Then Herod called the Wise Men secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said: “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.” After this meeting with the king, the Wise Men set out, and the star they had seen in the East went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. (Matthew 2,1b-9)

The Christmas tradition holds that three kings followed a star to worship the baby Jesus in Bethlehem. However, the Bible does not refer to them as kings, nor does it specify their number; it simply describes them as “wise men from the East.” This term “wise men” was later interpreted as “magi,” meaning astrologers.

In later narratives, the wise men were given names and established at three in number, possibly symbolizing the stages of human life or the known continents: Melchior, Gaspar, and Balthazar. Their gifts also took on symbolic meaning: gold representing Jesus' kingship, frankincense his divinity, and myrrh his future suffering and death.

In this scene, we see the richness and splendor of the Wise Men, each riding the animal that identifies him, accompanied by their attendants.