Skip to main content

Italian, Florentine, 'The Holy Family with Angels', probably 1475-1500

About the work

Overview

The Christ Child lies on a bundle of straw before his mother, the Virgin Mary, on a grassy patch in the foreground of this picture, his head supported by a kneeling angel. Making direct eye contact with the viewer, he suckles his index finger in a gesture that may have been understood as a kiss of peace. The Virgin, her hands joined, prays towards her son, while her husband Joseph rests on a saddle and holds a staff in his left hand. Behind him rise the ruins of an ancient building – a distant landscape with little buildings can be seen through its arches.

This painting may have been made by the Florentine painters Agnolo di Domenico del Mazziere and his brother Donnino, who specialised in the production of devotional paintings in Florence in the decades around 1500. Its circular shape was very popular at the time.

Key facts

Details

Full title
The Holy Family with Angels
Date made
probably 1475-1500
Medium and support
egg tempera on wood
Dimensions
126 × 126 cm
Acquisition credit
Salting Bequest, 1910
Inventory number
NG2492
Location
Not on display
Collection
Main Collection
Previous owners

About this record

If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.

Images