Following the recent renovations of Trinity’s sacristy (the room where the clergy prepare for worship), we were left with a large, bare wall. Trinitarian Jennine Hough painted an Epiphany Image of the gifts of the Magi, Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh. Below, Jennine shares her inspiration for the painting:

I have always wanted to do a painting about Epiphany, a very rich liturgical festival in the

Western church on January 6. It commemorates the visit of the Magi to the Christ child and is

The painting by Trinity's own Jennine Hough

also the celebration of the first manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles.

I started this painting on February 8 of 2024, and slowed down because of a too cold or too hot

garage studio, some travel, and some other paintings in between. I just finished it in May 2025.

The Biblical story of the Magi is only in Matthew’s gospel (2: 1-12). We are told that the Wise men, seeing a star in the East, came to worship Jesus, bearing gifts, and that the gifts (3) were Gold,

Frankincense and Myrrh.

It is usually assumed that there were three “Wise Men”, although in Eastern Christianity, the number could be 12 or a caravan.

The “Wise Men”, referenced in many places as Magi (defined as a priestly sect who prayed in

silence; monk-like mystics), appeared as a subject in art in the catacomb frescoes from the 1 st to the 4th c., before representations of the Annunciation or the Nativity. The Magi were dressed in

Persian garments indicating that the Church Fathers interpreted them as Persian (Catacombs of

Priscilla, Rome)

Matthew tells us that they returned to their own countries. There are separate traditions that

say they were converted to Christianity, baptized by the Apostle Thomas, and their bodies

venerated in Constantinople by St. Helena and later transferred to Milan and then enshrined in the Cologne Cathedral under HRE Frederick I.

During Epiphany, a hymn titled “We Three Kings” is sung. It is believed that the Wise Men were

also referred to as kings due to the prophecies in Isaiah and also Psalm 2 that speak of kings

from a distant land, bringing gifts.

A fascinating detail is that the first recording of their names is in a mosaic in the Basilica of Sant’

Apollinare Nuova in Ravenna in the 6th c. Their names were Balthasar, an Arabian King from

Yemen or possibly Ethiopia, Caspar, King of Tarsus, thought to be the oldest, and Melchior, a

Persian/Arabian scholar.

The most common assignment of gifts is that Caspar brought gold, Melchior brought

frankincense, and Balthasar brought myrrh. I decided to paint raw gold instead of the coins of

Caesar.

There is no accounting of the ultimate use of the gifts, although could the myrrh have been

saved for the anointing of Jesus after the Crucifixion?

It is these holy Biblical and historical mysteries that are so compelling.

I really wanted to paint the Magi, but instead painted their gifts. 

Jennine Hough