The Three Kings with King Otto IV
Four figures stand beneath the trefoil arch that frames the Adoration of the Magi. The figure on the left is King Otto IV, who donated the gold and precious stones for the front of the shrine sometime around the year 1200. Although he is not wearing a crown, Otto stands confidently alongside the Magi, the biblical kings who were not only the first Christian rulers, but also the model for all medieval kings. This was intended to underline the legitimacy of Otto IV’s disputed reign (he and Philip of Swabia were rivals to the throne). At the same time, it shows that like the French kings with the Crown of Thorns, the German kings considered the relics of the Magi to be state relics.
