UNKNOWN MASTER, German
(active 1410-1440 in Cologne)

Triptych: Madonna and Child with Saints

1410-40
Tempera on oak, 36 x 40 cm (central panel)
Staatliche Museen, Berlin

Cologne's playful spirit is seen in this triptych the painter of which is referred to as The Elder Master of the Holy Kinship. In the central panel Mary and her baby, with surrounding maiden saints, seem to be enjoying a picnic, all seated in a garden, Catherine to the lower left, Dorothy to the upper left, Margaret in the upper right, and Barbara in the foreground. Sts Elizabeth and Agnes stand in the wings.