Adoration of the Magi Altarpiece (Lochner)
The Adoration of the Magi Altarpiece (also known as Dombild Altarpiece, or Kölner Dombild; German for "Cologne cathedral picture/painting") is a painted triptych by the German artist Stefan Lochner, created c. 1440–1442. Originally painted for the council-chapel St. Maria in Jerusalem in Cologne, it was moved to Cologne Cathedral in 1810 and is now in that church's Marienkapelle, south of the choir. It is also known as the Three Kings Altarpiece (Dreikönigsaltar) and the Patron Saints of Cologne Altarpiece (Altar der Kölner Stadtpatrone). The first written mention of the painting is in the travel diaries of Albrecht Dürer, who saw it in 1520 whilst he was en route to the Netherlands, noting that he paid two Weißpfennig to see a painting by "Master Steffan of Cologne". The work centres on the Three Kings, whose relics were in Cologne.