Saints Matthias and Matthew

The Master of the Holy Kinship the Younger painted these Saints Matthias and Matthew around 1500 in Cologne. This anonymous master, distinguished from the Elder master of the same name, worked in the rich tradition of Cologne painting. His refined style continued the city's reputation for devotional panel painting of the highest quality. The oil medium allowed for rich tonal transitions and glazed layers of color that created luminous depth impossible with the older tempera technique. Such devotional panels served both liturgical contexts in churches and chapels and private devotional use in the homes of wealthy families who maintained personal altars and oratories.

Oil on panel with the brilliant coloring and meticulous detail characteristic of the Cologne school. The apostles are depicted with their traditional attributes rendered with jewel-like precision.