The Holy Family served as an example of how one was supposed to live in late medieval times. But how exactly did the Holy Family live then? The bible does not really tell us anything about the marital life of Mary and Josef in the period prior to the birth of Jesus. And some parts of Jesus’s childhood do not get any attention either. But fortunately, there exited a more elaborate account of Jesus’s childhood. This non-biblical gospel was written in about 1360 by a Franciscan monk from Tuscany. It is called Meditationes Vitae Christi, Meditations on the life of Christ. The author related his story to one person only, which gave it a very personal and intimate style. It soon became one of the most widely read and recited gospel stories of the late Middle Ages. The monk form Tuscany did more than just retell a story, though. He made up stories himself, stories that were not at all biblical as such, but very welcome all the same. Our painter of the panels is very likely to have been influenced by the Franciscan monk ‘s stories.
For more information on the attribution of these two panels to a painter from Tyrol, press A. For more information on how one knew on the Holy Family, press B.