Holy Kinship

Abstract

The work was originally a part of a late gothic triptych comprising furnishings of the church in Harkolwa. When the baroque altar was being erected in 18th century, the triptych was dismantled and its parts were included in the new structure. The side wings of the triptych presented the images of St. John the Baptist and St. Barbara (left wing), St. Stanislaus (the bishop) and St. Catherine of Alexandria (right wing), which are also located in the present high altar. The scene of Annunciation was presented in the predella of the triptych (currently it is included in the altar finial of the main baroque reredoses). The painting was created at the beginning of the 16th century, in the workshop of (Cracovian?) guild painter from Lesser Poland. The painting depicts an iconographic theme called the Holy Kinship.