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The Holy Family with Saints Elizabeth and John the Baptist

Large painting of Holy Family: Mary in red, holding baby Jesus.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • Large painting of Holy Family: Mary in red, holding baby Jesus.

Date:

c. 1615

Artist:

Peter Paul Rubens
Flemish, 1577–1640

About this artwork

With this work, Peter Paul Rubens presented a distinctly human take on the figures of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. The Holy Family lack the halos that often identify them, and the adult characters wear contemporary Flemish attire. Mary’s exposed breast brings to mind Jesus’s need for physical nourishment as the human son of God. Her central placement underscores the growing veneration of this saint in the Catholic community of the Spanish Netherlands, while her pyramidal arrangement shows Rubens’s attention to the principles of Renaissance art. Several versions of this painting exist, suggesting that it was an admired composition for private devotion.

Status

On View, Gallery 208

Department

Painting and Sculpture of Europe

Artist

Peter Paul Rubens

Title

The Holy Family with Saints Elizabeth and John the Baptist

Place

Flanders (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1610–1620

Medium

Oil on panel

Dimensions

114.5 × 91.5 cm (45 1/8 × 36 in.)

Credit Line

Major Acquisitions Fund

Reference Number

1967.229

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/27310/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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