Image Details

Photo by Jörg P. Anders, Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin.

ON THE COVER: Mary cradles the sleeping babe in her arms, in this painting on canvas by the 15th-century Italian artist Andrea Mantegna. The baby’s swaddling clothes foreshadow the linen that will be wrapped around his corpse; the young mother appears saddened by her child’s destiny. Mary’s love for her son is, perhaps, evidence of Jesus’ closest family tie. But, as Richard Bauckham points out in “All in the Family,” she is far from his only close relation: A careful examination of the New Testament and other early Christian writings reveals the roles of more than five generations of Jesus’ extended family.