Mindelheim Altarpiece: Mary of Clopas and Alphaeus with their Childs

Bernhard Strigel painted Mary of Clopas and Alphaeus with their children for the Mindelheim Altarpiece around 1505. This panel extends the Holy Kinship genealogy to include more distant relatives of Christ. The Mindelheim commission was one of the most extensive Holy Kinship cycles produced in Germany. 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 consistent portrait-like rendering of the holy family members. Each figure is individually characterized while maintaining the unified formal approach of the altarpiece program.