Balthazar, from an altarpiece depicting the Adoration of the Magi

This panel is a fragment from a much larger altarpiece that showed the three kings offering precious gifts to the newborn Christ – a scene known as the Adoration of the Magi. Here, the African King Balthazar holds his royal scepter and presents the gift of myrrh in an elaborate gold vessel. Richly clad, Balthazar’s gold embroidered mantle covers a gathered linen shirt and an elaborate brocade tunic. On his head is an imagined exotic fur-lined hat made of red silk velvet decorated with twisted gold thread and pearls. The delicacy of his features suggests this may be a portrait.