The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of September 25, 2023

Embroidered Panel: Holy Kinship

1500s

Germany or Switzerland, 16th century

Embroidery: silk and linen on linen ground; contours of design applied with ink

Overall: 147.3 x 152.4 cm (58 x 60 in.)

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1979.1

Location

115 Manuscripts & Textiles

Description

In the late Middle Ages, the life of Jesus was increasingly embellished by other figures and stories. Part of this is the theme of the holy kinship, represented in the central medallion. It was based on an apocryphal account (unsanctioned by certain canons) of the three marriages of Saint Anne, mother of the Virgin. The central theme is accompanied by the main authorities of the Catholic Church, the Evangelists, and the Church fathers.
The monumentality of the design, the dignity and spontaneity of the figures, and the fine execution of the embroidery itself distinguishes this as one of the finest examples of Swiss or South German linen embroidery of the 1500s.

Provenance
Bacri Collection, Paris, France
?–1979
(Loewi - Robertson, Inc., Los Angeles, CA, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
1979–
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Citations
Kleinbauer, W. Eugene. "Recent Major Acquisitions of Medieval Art by American Museums." Gesta 19, no. 1 (1980): 67-77. p. 77, fig. 30-31
Lee, Sherman E. "The Year in Review for 1979." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 67, no. 3 (1980): 58-99. Reproduced: cat. no. 13, p. 65; Mentioned: p. 60 www.jstor.org
Wardwell, Anne E. "The Holy Kinship: A Sixteen-Century Immaculist Embroidery." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 67, no. 9 (1980).. p. 285-95 www.jstor.org
Exhibition history

Year in Review: 1979. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (February 13-March 9, 1980).

When Angels Bent Near the Earth to Touch Their Harps of Gold: The Christmas Story. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 1, 1981-January 17, 1982).

Visions of the Divine: Textiles and Manuscripts from Medieval Germany (Manuscript and Textile Rotation) - Gallery 115. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 14, 2016-December 4, 2017).

Liturgical Textiles from Late Medieval Germany (Gallery 115 Rotation). The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (August 11, 2023-August 4, 2024).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1979.1