Altar of the Holy Kinship
sculptor
Unknown
Dateabout 1510-1520
Place MadeSaxony, Germany, Europe
MediumPolychromed and gilded wood
Dimensions155 x 105.5 cm (61 x 41 9/16 in.)
ClassificationsSculpture
Credit LineIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
Accession numberS30n11
eMuseum ID719609
EmbARK ObjectID13392
TMS Source ID2340
Last Updated11/14/24
Status
Not on viewWeb CommentaryCarved in Saxony between 1510 and 1520, the Altar of the Holy Kinship is playful and dramatic in appearance. Brightly colored and set against a background of tooled gold leaf, the figures are lively and quick. A sprightly toddler Jesus, arms akimbo, balances precariously between the laps of his mother, Mary, and his grandmother, Anne. Christ's followers, including young apostles, cavort along the lower edges of the altar, sometimes to almost comic effect. While one woman breastfeeds, a young child sits on the floor, happily drinking from what appears to be a beer stein.
BibliographyNotesGalerie Georges Petit. Catalogue des objets d'art et de haute curiosité de la Renaissance: tableaux, tapisseries composant la collection de M. Émile Gavet (Paris, May 31-June 9, 1897), p. 32, lot 74. (as German, Bavaria, end of the 15th century)
Art Exhibition: Mrs. John L. Gardner, 152 Beacon St., Boston. Exh. cat. (Boston, 1899), p. 3, no. 6. (as German, 13th century)
Gilbert Wendel Longstreet and Morris Carter. General Catalogue (Boston, 1935), p. 274, pl. 9. (as Franconian, about 1500)
Charles. L. Kuhn. "German Late Gothic Sculpture in the Gardner Museum, Boston." Medieval Studies in Memory of A. Kingsley Porter (Cambridge, 1939), pp. 571 fig. 9, 573. (as Thuringian or Saxon, 1510-1520)
Morris Carter. "Report of the Director of the Museum." Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum: Annual Report (1940), p. 24. (on the paintings on the wings' verso)
Betty Chamberlain. “Gothic Room” in Alfred M. Frankfurter (ed). The Gardner Collection (New York, 1946), p. 7. (as Franconian, about 1500)
George L. Stout. Treasures from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 1969), pp. 200-01, ill. (as German, perhaps Franconian, about 1500)
Anneliese Harding. German Sculpture in New England Museums (Boston, 1972), pp. 44, 83, no. 60. (as Saxon, early 16th century)
Cornelius C. Vermeule III et al. Sculpture in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 1977), pp. 93-95, no. 122. (as Saxon, about 1510-1520)
Rollin van N. Hadley. Museums Discovered: The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 1981), pp. 170-71, ill. (as Saxon, about 1510-1520)
Alan Chong. "Émile Gavet: Patron, Collector, Dealer" in Virginia Brilliant (ed.). Gothic Art in the Gilded Age: Medieval and Renaissance Treasures in the Gavet-Vanderbilt-Ringling Collection. Exh. cat. (Sarasota, FL: The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art; Newport: The Preservation Society of Newport County, 2009), pp. 10-11, fig. 6. (as Saxon, about 1510-1520)
Art Exhibition: Mrs. John L. Gardner, 152 Beacon St., Boston. Exh. cat. (Boston, 1899), p. 3, no. 6. (as German, 13th century)
Gilbert Wendel Longstreet and Morris Carter. General Catalogue (Boston, 1935), p. 274, pl. 9. (as Franconian, about 1500)
Charles. L. Kuhn. "German Late Gothic Sculpture in the Gardner Museum, Boston." Medieval Studies in Memory of A. Kingsley Porter (Cambridge, 1939), pp. 571 fig. 9, 573. (as Thuringian or Saxon, 1510-1520)
Morris Carter. "Report of the Director of the Museum." Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum: Annual Report (1940), p. 24. (on the paintings on the wings' verso)
Betty Chamberlain. “Gothic Room” in Alfred M. Frankfurter (ed). The Gardner Collection (New York, 1946), p. 7. (as Franconian, about 1500)
George L. Stout. Treasures from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 1969), pp. 200-01, ill. (as German, perhaps Franconian, about 1500)
Anneliese Harding. German Sculpture in New England Museums (Boston, 1972), pp. 44, 83, no. 60. (as Saxon, early 16th century)
Cornelius C. Vermeule III et al. Sculpture in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 1977), pp. 93-95, no. 122. (as Saxon, about 1510-1520)
Rollin van N. Hadley. Museums Discovered: The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 1981), pp. 170-71, ill. (as Saxon, about 1510-1520)
Alan Chong. "Émile Gavet: Patron, Collector, Dealer" in Virginia Brilliant (ed.). Gothic Art in the Gilded Age: Medieval and Renaissance Treasures in the Gavet-Vanderbilt-Ringling Collection. Exh. cat. (Sarasota, FL: The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art; Newport: The Preservation Society of Newport County, 2009), pp. 10-11, fig. 6. (as Saxon, about 1510-1520)
ProvenanceNotesCollection of Émile Gavet (1830–1904) by 1897.
Purchased by Isabella Stewart Gardner from the Gavet sale at Galerie Georges Petit, Paris for 9,200 francs on 31 May 1897, lot 74, through Fernand Robert, her regular agent in Paris.
Purchased by Isabella Stewart Gardner from the Gavet sale at Galerie Georges Petit, Paris for 9,200 francs on 31 May 1897, lot 74, through Fernand Robert, her regular agent in Paris.
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