{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O130887"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O130887/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2009CD9057/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2009CD9057/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2009CD9057","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2009CD9058","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2009CD9056","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2017JX8689","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O130887/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O130887","accessionNumber":"573& to C-1872","objectType":"Statuette","titles":[{"title":"The Holy Kindred","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"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. \r\n\r\nThis 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.\n\nThe 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.\r\n","physicalDescription":"The central group depicts the Virgin and Saint Anne seated on a bench. They both support the naked Christ Child, who stands on the Virgin's lap. Behind her Saint Joseph leans forward, resting on a stick. Joachim stands behind Saint Anne between her tow other husbands, Salomas and Cleophas.\r\nThe left group shows the seated Mary Cleophas in profile, her husband Alphaeus who  stands behind her, and their children Saint James the Less, Joseph the Just, Simon and Jude. Three of the children are naked, two held by their parents, the other stands at his mother's knee playing with his clothed brother, who is riding a hobby-horse.  \r\nThe right group shows Mary Salome seated with a bunch of grapes in her left hand, her husband Zebedee, and their children Saint John the Evangelist and Saint James the Greater. The naked Saint John sits on her mother's lap, while his brother, who wears a belted tunic, stands at her knee and reaches out for the grapes with his right hand.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Thoman, Hans","id":"A18392"},"association":{"text":"makers","id":"AAT251917"},"note":"workshop of"}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"limewood","id":"x42540"}],"techniques":[],"materialsAndTechniques":"Carved limewood, painted","categories":[{"text":"Sculpture","id":"THES48896"},{"text":"Woodwork","id":"THES48877"},{"text":"Religion","id":"THES48900"},{"text":"Christianity","id":"THES48978"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"SCP","id":"THES48600"},"images":["2009CD9057","2009CD9058","2009CD9056","2017JX8689"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"64 (VA)","id":"THES49735"},"free":"","case":"2","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"64 (VA)","id":"THES49735"},"free":"","case":"2","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"64 (VA)","id":"THES49735"},"free":"","case":"2","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"TCRPS (VA)","id":"THES49504"},"free":"","case":"FS","shelf":"","box":"3"}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Statuette","id":""}],[{"text":"Statuette","id":""}],[{"text":"carving","id":"AAT53149"}],[{"text":"Frame","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Memmingen","id":"x35880"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca. 1515-1520","earliest":"1510-01-01","latest":"1520-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"16.2","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":"central part"},{"dimension":"Width","value":"10.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":"central part"},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"4","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":"central part"},{"dimension":"Height","value":"15","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":"left group"},{"dimension":"Width","value":"7.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":"left group"},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"3","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":"left group"},{"dimension":"Height","value":"14.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":"right group"},{"dimension":"Width","value":"7.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":"right group"},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"3.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":"right group"}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"After their acquisition, the three reliefs were inserted in a frame with tracery in the upper level and pierced plinths. The overpaint, probably dating from the 19th century, was removed in 1931. The dowels under the reliefs' bases are later additions. The benches were originally silvered.\n\nHistorical significance: These reliefs are from a small domestic altar. They were 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 1502-5 he worked in the workshop of Hans Herlin, whose influence can be seen in the present group. The composition and the facial features of the Virgin, Saint Joseph and Saint Anne's husband behind the Virgin bear in fact similarities with the relief of the Holy Kindred ascribed to Herlin, formerly in the Skulpturengalerie in Berlin (destroyed in 1945). Nevertheless, the drapery is carved much more fluidly than in the latter, and is closer to that of the Adoration of the Magi, also formerly in the same museum. A similar treatment of the drapery can be seen in two reliefs by Thoman, in the Vorlarberger Museum, Bregenz, depicting Saint Martin and the Beggar and the Decapitation of Saint Maurice, datable to around 1515-20.","historicalContext":"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.\r\nThe origin of this surprising genealogical motif has no foundation in scripture. Mentioned in Jacopo da Voragine's Golden Legend, the apocryphal legend of the triple marriage (Trinubium) of Saint Anne was popularised in 1406 thanks to a vision of Saint Colette, a nun and mystic of Corbie. According to her vision, Saint Anne appeared to Colette with her three daughters and their children. Interpreted by some authors as a feminine transposition of the masculine genealogy of the Jesse Tree, the Holy Kindred disseminated rapidly throughout Northern Europe, not least thanks to the very popular cult in honour of Saint Anne.","briefDescription":"Carved group, The Holy Kindred, carved and painted limewood, by the workshop of Hans Thoman, Memmingen (Germany), ca. 1515-1520 \n\nHoly kindred (mary cleophas & family); polychrome limewood, workshop of Hans Thoman (Memmingen, Germany), about 1515-20\n\nHoly kindred (virgin & child group); polychrome limewood, workshop of Hans Thoman (Memmingen, Germany), about 1515-20\n\nfor Holy Kindred group; Wood, Baroque with pseudo-Gothic tracery 19C","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Müller, T. Ein altes Allgäuer Kunstwerk in London. <font -u>Das Schöne Allgäu.</font> 12, 1950, pp. 17-19"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Baxandall, M.<font -u>South German Sculpture 1480-1530, Victoria and Albert Museum.</font> London, 1974, p. 60, no. 15"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Esser, W. Die Heilige Sippe. Studien zu einem spätmittelalterlichen Bildthema. <font -u>Deutschland und den Niederlanden.</font> Bonn, 1986, p. 235"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Jopek, N. <font -u>German Scultpure 1430-1540. A Catalogue of the Collection in the Victoria and Albert Museum.</font> London, 2002, pp. 99-100, no. 44"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"<font -u>List of Objects in the Art Division, South Kensington, Acquired During the Year 1872, Arranged According to the Dates of Acquisition.</font> London: Printed by George E. Eyre and William Spottiswoode for H.M.S.O., p. 47"}],"production":"workshop of Hans Thoman","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[{"text":"The Virgin Mary","id":"N480"},{"text":"Anne (Saint)","id":"N404"},{"text":"Joseph (saint)","id":"N936"},{"text":"Joachim","id":"N335"},{"text":"Cleophas, Mary","id":"N1476"},{"text":"Salome, Mary","id":"N1475"},{"text":"Christ Child","id":"N4624"}],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["573B-1872","573A-1872","573-1872","573C-1872"],"accessionNumberNum":"573","accessionNumberPrefix":"","accessionYear":1872,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE","Statuette [1]","Statuette [2]","Statuette [3]","Frame"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-04-09","recordCreationDate":"2007-01-17","availableToBook":false}}