Christmas - Adoration of the Kings, Parish Church Oppenberg

The carved and painted shrine of the Three Kings was originally the centrepiece of a triptych altarpiece. An excerpt from this is depicted on the Christmas stamp, showing the adoration of the kings.

Emperor Maximilian I, often referred to as the "last knight", commissioned the expansion of the small parish church of the Nativity of Mary in Oppenberg, located in a remote high valley of the Rottenmanner Tauern, from 1502 to include a Gothic choir. The Munich architect and sculptor, Erasmus Grasser, not only took charge of the construction but also created the shrine with the Holy Three Kings and the Holy Family, completed around 1505. The Emperor had himself immortalised in eternal adoration in the figure of King Melchior, with the imperial crown held above his head. Notable are the dynamic movement characteristic of Grasser's artworks, such as the "Burgundian step" as a foot position, and the detailed richness of the thirty depicted figures. The Christmas commemorative stamp will also be issued as a maximum card.