Adoration of the Magi From the Cologne City Council Chapel Cologne, 1474 Stained glass 270 x 175 cm Transferred from the Kunstgewerbemuseum (Museum of Decorative Arts), Cologne, in 1930–1932 Cologne, Museum Schnütgen, inv. M 594 6 In 1423, the city council of Cologne expelled the Jewish community from the city and converted the synagogue, which was located in the immediate vicinity of the town hall, into a council chapel. The conversion of the building was highly symbolic: the consecration of the chapel was seen as the victory of the Christian Church (Ecclesia) over Judaism (Synagogue). The building, which would henceforth be used for the council’s services and thus by the leading citizens of Cologne, was to be appropriately furnished. The city’s coat of arms and the Three Kings, the patrons of the city, were therefore placed in prominent positions in the building. In addition to the large altarpiece by Stefan Lochner depicting the Adoration of the Magi, the theme was also taken up in this window in the sacristy, built in 1474. After secularisation, it was transferred to the church St. Maria im Kapitol in 1803, before returning to its original location in 1850. At the end of the 19th century, the stained glass was transferred to the Kunstgewerbemuseum (Museum of Decorative Arts) and from there to the Museum Schnütgen in 1930–1932. The depiction of the Adoration of the Magi may have been based on contemporary paintings on wood and canvas. The division of the window into three vertical panels separates the kings from each other and results in an unbalanced distribution of the figures. On the left-hand pane, the eldest king kneels and offers his gift to the Christ Child on Mary’s lap. Behind them, separated by the architecture of the stable, Joseph, the ox and the donkey watch the scene. In the landscape in the background, a shepherd tends to his flock. On the panes in the two right-hand rows, a king is depicted over a large area; the youngest on the right is accompanied by two men from his retinue. A similar Adoration scene from the same workshop has been preserved in the Kreuzherrenkirche at Ehrenstein in the Westerwald, with the Madonna and Child depicted according to the same model (Lymant). What is unique here, however, is the combination of the depiction of the Three Kings with the upper panes, in which the Cologne coat of arms is presented twice by the figure of a wild man. The three crowns of the Magi can be seen in the coat of arms. The eleven black drops or flames that can be found in the lower part today are not yet depicted. The colours of the coat of arms largely determine the colour scheme of the surrounding panes, such as those of the two angels waving their censers towards the coat of arms. The rest of the window is made mostly of white glass, with a few partially restored coloured sections. Accents of silver stain highlight the guiding star, as well as the gifts of the Magi and their crowns, which they have set down as a sign of reverence. Von Falke/Creutz 1910, 23. – Oidtmann 1929, 297–299. – Cat. Herbst des Mittelalters 1970, 65, no. 66. – Cat. Die Heiligen Drei Könige 1982, 155, no. 19 (Brigitte Lymant). – Lymant 1982, 131–133, no. 66. – Westermann-Angerhausen/Täube 2003, 46, no. 23 (Dagmar Täube). Jule Wölk 52
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