Mindelheim Altarpiece: Cleophas and Maria Cleophae and Childs

Bernhard Strigel painted this panel of the Mindelheim Altarpiece showing Cleophas and Maria Cleophae with their children around 1505. The Mindelheim Altar was a major Holy Kinship cycle depicting the extended family of the Virgin Mary. This genealogical program reflected the enormous popularity of the cult of Saint Anne around 1500. The tempera medium required careful preparation on a gessoed panel and a disciplined layering technique that produced precise, durable surfaces suited to the intricate detail expected of devotional painting.

Oil on panel with Strigel's formal family portrait approach to the Holy Kinship figures. The careful rendering of each family member's features and costume creates an effect between devotional painting and dynastic portraiture.