King Caspar (left); King Balthazar (right)

The Master of Frankfurt painted these panels of King Caspar and King Balthazar as wings from an Adoration of the Magi altarpiece around 1510, depicting two of the three traditional wise men with the individual characterization and exotic costume that were hallmarks of the Adoration iconographic type. The three kings had been given conventional attributes by tradition—Melchior as an elderly European, Caspar as middle-aged, and Balthazar as a young African or Moor—and the Master of Frankfurt developed these types with careful attention to physiognomic character and the luxurious textiles and jewels that marked royal magnificence. Wing panels depicting individual kings flanked a central Adoration scene, providing spatial context for the narrative as a whole.

The panel demonstrates the refined Netherlandish technique with careful surface finish, luminous color, and the meticulous rendering characteristic of the artist's workshop production.