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Four women, six men, and seven babies and children are gathered in three rows in this freestanding, painted wooden sculpture. The people all have pale, peachy skin with rosy cheeks, round faces with double chins, and thin, curving brows under high foreheads. They mostly wear gold robes over garments in gray, dark blue, plum purple, spruce green, or red. The four women sit hip-to-hip across the middle of the grouping. The two center women angle slightly in toward each other. To our left in that pair, Mary holds a nude baby Jesus on her lap. Mary’s long, loose, light brown hair is held back with a twisted band. The chubby Jesus on her lap reaches for the woman to our right, Saint Anne, who wears a voluminous wimple that covers her face, chin, neck, and shoulders. The women to either side of the central pair hold books, one open and one closed, and wear turban-like headdresses over long, wavy hair. Six children play together in two groups at the women’s feet. Some are nude and others wear dark or gold robes. A pair eat grapes to our left. The right-most child rides a hobby horse and holds onto the hand of the woman behind him with his tiny hand. In the top row, a man stands behind each of the four women except for Saint Anne, who has three men standing over her shoulder. Two of the six men are cleanshaven, and the others have beards. Some are bareheaded and others wear turbans or a cap. Their faces are lined, and they look down or off into the distance, most under furrowed brows. The gold on the robes is tooled to create patterns.

South German 15th Century (Swabian or Franconian)

The Holy Kinship, c. 1480/1490

West Building, Main Floor - Gallery 35A

Medium

polychromed wood

Dimensions

overall: 128 x 112.5 x 27 cm (50 3/8 x 44 5/16 x 10 5/8 in.)

Credit Line

Patrons' Permanent Fund

Accession Number

2002.13.1

Artists / Makers

South German 15th Century (sculptor)

Swabian 15th Century (sculptor)

Franconian 15th Century (sculptor)

Image Use

This image is in the public domain.
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Overview

The Gospels refer to Christ's "brothers," but the extended family presented in this altarpiece emerged from medieval legends. The subject—usually called the Holy Kinship—appears often from the late fifteenth century, especially in northern Europe. Its popularity was fostered by development of the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, which holds that Mary was conceived without sin, and the increased veneration of her mother, Saint Anne, that resulted. This group, designed to rest on an altar, may be one of the very earliest interpretations of this subject in sculpture.

Mary and her mother are in the center with the infant Jesus. Flanking them are Anne's other two daughters, Mary Cleophas and Mary Salome, born to two subsequent marriages. Behind each woman stands her husband; in Anne's case there are three husbands. Gathered at their feet are the children, the cousins who became Jesus' disciples: St. James the Greater and John the Evangelist are sons of Mary Salome; St. James Minor, Judas Thaddeus, Simon, and Joseph the Just are the children of Mary Cleophas, the last riding a hobby horse, steadying himself with his mother's hand. It is a crowded and lively group. The boys tussle and play, and eat grapes symbolic of the Eucharist. The three sisters share a serene resemblance to each other. Only Saint Anne seems to have insight and understanding of the future.

The faces and costumes are richly varied. Their brilliant colors are remarkably well preserved; probably because this original paint was protected by overpaint applied in later times.

Provenance

Probably the Cistercian convent of Kirchheim, near Nordlingen. Princes zu Oettingen-Wallerstein, Schloss Wallerstein, since the early 19th century;[1] purchased 7 February 2002 through (Alexander Rudigier, Munich) by NGA.

[1] The convent of Kirchheim was closely connected with the Oettingen-Wallersteins, who had a crypt there in the 14th century. In the wake of secularisation during Napoleon's reorganization of Germany, the princely house received seven convents, including Kirchheim, together with all their possessions in compensation for lost territory on the left bank of the Rhine. The then prince, Ludwig, was one of the very earliest collectors of medieval art, and he seized this opportunity to secure everything of artistic value from the convents which had been transferred to him. Some of his collection of paintings now forms part of the core of the Alte Pinakothek in Munich, and other parts of his painting collection are at Hampton Court in England. The Holy Kinship was intended by Prince Ludwig for the main altar of the chapel of Saint Anne at Schloss Wallerstein, and he commissioned the neo-Gothic retable from which it was separated at the end of the 20th century. (Information provided by Alexander Rudigier, in NGA curatorial files)

Associated Names

Oettingen-Wallerstein Collection
Rudigier, Alexander, Mr.

Bibliography

1938: Gröber, Karl, ed. Die Kunstdenkmäler von Schwaben (Vol. 1, Bezirksamt Nördlingen). 9 vols. Munich, 1938-1993: 1(1938):470-474, repros.

2002: Luchs, Alison. "South German (Swabian or Franconian), The Holy Kinship." National Gallery of Art Bulletin, no. 28 (Fall 2002): 5-6, repro.

2015: "Art for the Nation: The Story of the Patrons' Permanent Fund." National Gallery of Art Bulletin, no. 53 (Fall 2015): 21, repro.

2017: Dickerson III, C.D. "The Sculpture Collection: Shaping a Vision, Expanding a Legacy." National Gallery of Art Bulletin 56 (Spring 2017): 12, repro.