L'Adoration des mages

Ulrich Apt the Elder painted this Adoration of the Magi around 1510 for the Louvre. Apt was part of the Augsburg painting community alongside Burgkmair and the elder Holbein, contributing to the city's position as a major center of German Renaissance art. The tempera-on-panel medium required a carefully gessoed surface and was painted in fine, precise layers, yielding a luminous, jewel-like surface of great durability.

The Epiphany scene demonstrates the Augsburg school's blend of German detailed craftsmanship with awareness of Italian spatial construction, presenting the three kings with elaborate costume detail.