DOI Artikel:
Bury, Katarzyna: Nieznany obraz krakowskiego Mistrza Rodziny Marii
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.19092#0088
The panels have been numbered in the following way: panel I depicts St Anne and Joachim
against a tali wali; panel II shows Mary, Joseph and Mary Salome against gilt background with
punched decoration in its upper part; panel III shows Judas Thaddeus, Jacob the Less and Simon
(?); panel IV is a plank with fragmented depiction of Salome holding a book on her lap, whereas
the plank of panel V was stripped of the paint layer. Panel I, II and V measure approximately
48 x 65 cm, panel III is approximately 60 x 65 cm, and the remnant of painting on panel IV
measures 27 x 65 cm. Every plank is about 1.3 cm thick.
Iconographic analysis allowed for a hypothetical reconstruction of the original composition
which most probably featured St Anne with her husbands and Mary, Jesus and Mary's two step-
sisters with their sons; in total thirteen persons. The theme, particularly popular in panel painting
of Lesser Poland, has its sources in the Apocrypha: the description of Mary's stepsisters and their
children can be found, among others, in the introduction to the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew, the
so-called Trinubium Annae.
Iconographic analysis revealed numerous parallels of the painting in ąuestion with the works
from the workshop of the Cracow Master of the Holy Kinship, being one of the most active
painting workshops in Cracow at the beginning of the sixteenth century. Additionally, the subject
matter of the newly discovered painting, i.e. the Holy Kinship, confirms the appropriateness of
the surrogate name given to the anonymous Cracow master. The author of the article also tried
to demonstrate how the subseąuent paintings depicting the Holy Kinship, produced by the Cra-
cow workshop, influenced one another, and proposed to date the painting under consideration
between 1510-1520, favouring the later date.
Originally the painting may have been destined for St Anne's chapel in the parish church of
St John the Baptist at Pilica and commissioned by Mikołaj (Nicholas) of Pilica, then the owner
of the place, who, according to archival documents, supported the church.
The painting under discussion is a testimony to the extensive propagandist action undertaken
by the bishop of Cracow, Jan Konarski, who expanded the cult of St Anne over the whole diocese
of Cracow. The bishop did not restrict himself to merely theoretical propagation of the cult of
Jesus' grandmother, but was personally involved in its application by funding artworks, such as
the high altar for the church at Bodzentyn or one at Biecz.
78
against a tali wali; panel II shows Mary, Joseph and Mary Salome against gilt background with
punched decoration in its upper part; panel III shows Judas Thaddeus, Jacob the Less and Simon
(?); panel IV is a plank with fragmented depiction of Salome holding a book on her lap, whereas
the plank of panel V was stripped of the paint layer. Panel I, II and V measure approximately
48 x 65 cm, panel III is approximately 60 x 65 cm, and the remnant of painting on panel IV
measures 27 x 65 cm. Every plank is about 1.3 cm thick.
Iconographic analysis allowed for a hypothetical reconstruction of the original composition
which most probably featured St Anne with her husbands and Mary, Jesus and Mary's two step-
sisters with their sons; in total thirteen persons. The theme, particularly popular in panel painting
of Lesser Poland, has its sources in the Apocrypha: the description of Mary's stepsisters and their
children can be found, among others, in the introduction to the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew, the
so-called Trinubium Annae.
Iconographic analysis revealed numerous parallels of the painting in ąuestion with the works
from the workshop of the Cracow Master of the Holy Kinship, being one of the most active
painting workshops in Cracow at the beginning of the sixteenth century. Additionally, the subject
matter of the newly discovered painting, i.e. the Holy Kinship, confirms the appropriateness of
the surrogate name given to the anonymous Cracow master. The author of the article also tried
to demonstrate how the subseąuent paintings depicting the Holy Kinship, produced by the Cra-
cow workshop, influenced one another, and proposed to date the painting under consideration
between 1510-1520, favouring the later date.
Originally the painting may have been destined for St Anne's chapel in the parish church of
St John the Baptist at Pilica and commissioned by Mikołaj (Nicholas) of Pilica, then the owner
of the place, who, according to archival documents, supported the church.
The painting under discussion is a testimony to the extensive propagandist action undertaken
by the bishop of Cracow, Jan Konarski, who expanded the cult of St Anne over the whole diocese
of Cracow. The bishop did not restrict himself to merely theoretical propagation of the cult of
Jesus' grandmother, but was personally involved in its application by funding artworks, such as
the high altar for the church at Bodzentyn or one at Biecz.
78