The Holy Family
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
unframed: 87 × 68.5 cm · framed: 105.5 × 87 × 6 cm
Classification
Painting
Department
European Painting and Sculpture
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
John L. Severance Fund
Accession Number
1998.10
Tags
male
About this artwork
A work of Gandolfi's later years, The Holy Family was exhibited in the religious festival at the church of San Procolo in Bologna in 1776. The painting's balanced composition, along with the suggestion of emotional connections among the figures, expresses the religious honesty of Gandolfi's art. Here St. Joseph holds the scriptures for the Christ child, who sits on his mother's lap; the elderly Joseph also holds the flowering rod, a sign from heaven that he was chosen to be Mary's husband. Josep...