The Holy Kindred

These reliefs were part of a small domestic altar and represent the Holy Kindred. They refer to the legend of the triple marriage of Saint Anne, and her three daughters by her three husbands. Saint Anne sits in the centre, with the Virgin and Christ Child, and behind them are her husbands (Joachim, Cleophas, and Salomas) and Saint Joseph. The side groups depict Mary Salome and May Cleophas with their husbands and children.

This work was associated to the Master of Ottobeuren, named after the reliefs in the abbey of Ottobeuren, later identified with the sculptor Hans Thoman, active in Memmingen, Swabia in the early decades of the sixteenth century. In 1502-5 he worked in the workshop of Hans Herlin, whose influence can be seen in the present group.

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The Holy Kindred was a popular subject in fifteenth and early sixteenth century German and Netherlandish art. It forms part of a series of themes dealing with the genealogy of Jesus Christ, and is entirely centred on Saint Anne. Early names for the Holy Kindred were very explicit: it was called the Genealogy of Madam Saint Anne or The Apostolic Descendance of Saint Anne. Representations of the Holy Kindred include a whole gallery of people. Gathered around Saint Anne we find her three husbands (Joachim, Salomas and Cleophas), the three daughters, their husbands and children.