Holy Tribe

Bernhard Strigel painted this Holy Tribe composition around 1525, depicting the extended sacred family of Christ—the figures associated with the Holy Kinship tradition that linked Christ through the Virgin to multiple relatives—in a complex devotional assembly. The Holy Kinship or Sacred Tribe was a particularly popular subject in German devotional painting, the extended family group providing a more comprehensive intercessory community than the nuclear Holy Family alone. As court painter to Maximilian I, Strigel brought his careful portrait technique to the sacred subject, potentially giving the devotional figures physiognomic specificity derived from actual portrait studies. His characteristic precise figure work and warm palette give the complex multi-figure composition its visual coherence.

The multi-figure composition arranges the holy relatives in a group portrait format that reflects contemporary family portrait conventions. Strigel's Swabian style combines precise characterization of individual figures with decorative richness.