The Wise Men, Christian Wall Art

What is painted

The desert is soft and pale, sand and bone tones rolling to the horizon. Three travelers sway on their camels in single file, robes and packs catching the evening light. Far ahead, a small town of flat roofs climbs a hill, and above it shines a single star, brighter than anything else in the sky.

There are no words on the print. The painting has the depth and warm browns of an oil study, and it leaves a great deal of open sky so the star has room to lead the eye.

Who were the wise men?

Only Matthew tells their story, in chapter 2. Wise men come from the east to Jerusalem asking, “Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.” Herod is troubled, the scribes point to Bethlehem, and the star goes before them until it stands over the place where the young child is.

Matthew never says there were three. That number comes from the three gifts, gold, frankincense and myrrh, and later tradition gave them names and crowns. The camels are not in Matthew either, but Isaiah 60:6 speaks of a multitude of camels bringing gold and incense, and artists have painted them ever since.

Warned in a dream not to return to Herod, the wise men go home another way. Their visit is celebrated at Epiphany, on January 6, the feast of Christ shown to the nations.

For the Christmas season and beyond

Hang it in December above a mantel or a sideboard, and leave it up through Epiphany. Because the scene is a landscape without lettering, it also works year round in a living room or a study as religious wall art that invites a question. It is a thoughtful gift for a teacher, a traveler, or anyone searching.

The print is made to order in the United States on thick archival matte paper and ships free within the US. It arrives unframed, with a paper margin around the painting, in sizes from 5x7 to 24x36 plus metric and A formats. There is also a digital download.

As Christian wall art, it has a timeless, museum-like quality, and it sits easily next to family photographs or antique furniture. As a Christian poster for a classroom or a church hall, it gives children a picture of the journey of the magi that is calm and dignified, without cartoon crowns. The large sizes let the desert and the sky really open up on the wall.