The book celebrates the 850th anniversary of the arrival of the remains of The Magi, the Three Wise Men, in Cologne, the momentous event that made the cathedral city one of the major pilgrimage sites of the Middle Ages. Their remains were installed and integrated into the Shrine of the Magi reliquary, the famous work of Nicholas of Verdun and the largest reliquary in the Western world.

The Magi: Legend, Art and Cult includes works of art from the fourth to the sixteenth century, including Magi fi gures in ivory, sculptures, paintings, manuscripts and other works from Italy, Germany and France. It examines the changing symbolism of the Magi, that reached its apex in the age of Gothic cathedrals. Royal affl uence and courtly ceremony of the time are reflected in fashions in the time when each of the artworks was commissioned. Many of the works' donors include themselves in the depiction of the Magi, among them Frederick Barbarossa, who arranged the original transfer of the remains of The Magi from Milan in 1164.