January 6, The Feast of the Epiphany, in Art and Song

φαίνω, I appear, I shine.

ἐπί,  upon.

Epiphany is appearance or revelation. The Christian Feastday commemorates the revealing of the Infant Christ to the newly-arrived Magi, and by extension the revelation to the world at large of the Incarnation.

The Magi were Kings in their own lands. They are described by the Gospel writers as traveling to find the King of the Jews and declare fealty to him. The notable thing is that this King of the Jews has no throne, no crown, no army. His is a rule of moral law. That kings kneel before him, as well as non-kings, demonstrates the equality of all men under God. The appeal of this idea is evident.

For many centuries after this event, kings would claim Divine Right: that they were chosen by God to rule men - to be above other men so as to rule them. Finally, in America, we tossed that. No kings. As all are equal in the eyes of God, so shall all be equal under the law. Our Declaration and our Constitution set that up; our battles in our Civil War realized its full meaning for the continental reach of the country.

"Mędrcy świata, Monarchowie" - Mages, (Wise Men) of the World, Monarchs) is a seventeenth-century kolęda for Epiphany. A Polish Army choir puts in a performance, simultaneously proud and reverent, of the first two verses, here.

1. Mędrcy świata, monarchowie,

Gdzie śpiesznie dążycie?

Powiedzcież nam, Trzej Królowie,

Chcecie widzieć Dziecię?

Ono w żłobie, nie ma tronu,

I berła nie dzierży,

A proroctwo Jego zgonu,

Już się w świecie szerzy.

Magi of the world, Monarchs,

Where do you go at such speed?

Tell us, Three Kings,

You wish to see the Child?

It is in a manger, not on a throne,

And bears no scepter,

And prophecy of His death,

Just as death is rife in the world.

Objawienie Pańskie ("Revelation of the Kings") is the Feast of the Epiphany of Christ to the Magi.
On January 6, the tradition is to write in chalk on the doors of the house
the initials of those three Magi,
to commemorate them and ask their blessing in the coming year.

Melchior, the Persian, is the grandfatherly one.
Balthazaar, the Arabian, is of middle age.
Kaspar, a Prince of India, is the youth.

Mosaic, c565, the Basilica at Ravenna.
The kings are always shown to be of three generations.
See their star?

Murillo, C17.
Melchior is kneeling;
Balthazaar stands to the left;
Kaspar stands to the right.
At top left, Murillo shows us
armed soldiers and crossed timbers,
seemingly to foreshadow the death of Christ.
Frankincense and myrrh were substances used
in the treatment for burial of the bodies of kings.

Szymon Czechowicz, of Warsaw, C18,
"Pokłon Trzech Króli."
The arrangement is similar to that of Murillo,
but the prefigurations of death are left out
and the star, the "gwiazda," shines forth instead.

Czechowicz, detail

The crown and scepter of King Melchior he has laid upon the ground.  The image and idea of worldly kings giving homage to a universal God has been the basis, and historically is the means of conveying in art, the concept of equality of man in the eyes of universal moral authority.  From that Judeo-Christian religious concept developed over time and with much sacrifice the religiously-neutral ethical-legal principle of equality before the law.

From a third-century sarcophagus.
Those Phrygian caps they are wearing show up often in
subsequent depictions.

Tissot, C19, "Journey of the Magi."
Or you could say "Podróż Magów."

My new favorite Epiphany art this year (besides this most excellent contemporary tribute) is pre-Raphaelite. Here is a detail of a tapestry by William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones, commissioned in 1886 for an Oxford college chapel.

Again, three generations, evoking historical time in addition to geographic space: Melchior of Persia; Balthazaar of Arabia; Kaspar of India.

The Wiki entry describes the steps in the creation of this work. Additional tapestries and paintings of this design were produced over a couple of decades, throughout the most active time of the Arts and Crafts Movement.

In the New Year, may the Wise Men visit your house in their humility and benevolence. May no tyrant cross your threshold.