In the center, the seated Virgin with white robe and blue mantle holds the naked Christ Child on her lap. The scene is set within a frame of a red columns supporting an architrave. Deep green capitals are balanced by elaborate blue, yellow, and blue-green column bases. The eldest king, with a white beard and red cloak, kneels to the left. Joseph is behind Mary wearing a green tunic and a purple cloak. He takes off his hat in deference to the visitors. Behind him under a lean-to roof is a stable with the ox and ass in front of a rack of hay. The young king from Africa is on the right and the middle-aged king from the Middle East to the left. The scene is set within an architectural frame for ornamented columns. Below is an elaborate cartouche with the inscription.

The panel is virtually intact except for tiny stopgap segments inserted at the top of the panel and to the left of the inscription plate. Mending leads in the inscription plate were removed after Hearst’s purchase. A sliver of new glass has been inserted to replace the missing top of the R in Ritter and the adjacent upper border of the inscription. The figural scene does suffer from weathering that has left speckles on the glass. Heavy mending leads diminish the clarity of the lower section of the figural panel.

Kaspar Gallati (1535/37 Näfels–1619 Tours) was one of the most distinguished officers of his era. He served under the French Catholic Kings, Charles IX, Henry III, Henry IV and Louis XIII during numerous conflicts, particularly against the Huguenots in France and the Spanish in The Lowlands (Müller, 1986, pp. 47–61). Kaspar Gallati commissioned the panel seven years before his death at the age of 84 (or 82). Given his long service to the kings of France, the selection of royalty may have had multiple meanings… More