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The central panel of the Holy Kinship Altarpiece depicts the Holy Kinship. The subject of Christ's relatives had been very popular from the beginning of the 15th century.
On the left-hand wing are Sts Nicasius and Roch with the Cologne donor Nicasius Hackeney, who ran the fiscal administration of the imperial court; on the right are Sts Gudule and Elizabeth with the donor's wife, Christina (née Hardenrath). On the exterior of the wings are Sts Hermolaus, Achatius and his followers on the left, and on the right Sts Cecilia, Genevieve, Helen and Catherine, each with members of the donor's family. The altar was probably a donation to the Dominican convent of St Achatius where one of the donor's daughters was a nun.
The artist of the altarpiece is referred to as the Master of the Holy Kinship.
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