Mary and Elizabeth

This panel come from a monumental winged altar installed in Nuremberg’s Church of Our Lady around the year 1400. It shows Elisabeth, on the right, and her daughter Mary spinning and reading while their infants Jesus and John were playing at their feet. Mary wears a blue gown with an extraordinary golden belt. This belt is special, representing one of the most important relics at the Church of Our Lady: the Holy Belt. On major religious holidays this actual relic was shown and the winged altar was opened, revealing this motif.