Studio of Peter Paul Rubens, 'The Holy Family with Saints in a Landscape', after 1635
About the work
Overview
Within a sprawling rural landscape, the Virgin Mary is seated with the Christ Child in front of a classical building. She holds her sleeping son tenderly while three figures – an unidentified female saint and Saint George with the princess he rescued – gaze at him in awe. The infant Saint John the Baptist and two angels stand with a lamb, which symbolises Christ’s eventual sacrifice. Saint Joseph appears to the right of the scene in the middle distance, slumped against a tree, seemingly asleep.
This painting was produced after 1635 by a member of Rubens’s studio in Antwerp and is based on The Rest on the Flight into Egypt (Prado, Madrid), which Rubens made between 1632 and 1635. Some of the details in the National Gallery picture differ from the earlier painting but the composition, including the positioning of the figures, remains relatively unchanged.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- The Holy Family with Saints in a Landscape
- Artist
- Studio of Peter Paul Rubens
- Artist dates
- 1577 - 1640
- Date made
- after 1635
- Medium and support
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 119 × 158.5 cm
- Acquisition credit
- Bought, 1824
- Inventory number
- NG67
- Location
- Not on display
- Collection
- Main Collection
- Previous owners
Provenance
Additional information
Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Gregory Martin, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Flemish School: circa 1600–circa 1900’, London 1986; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.
Bibliography
-
1986Martin, Gregory, National Gallery Catalogues: The Flemish School, circa 1600 - circa 1900, London 1986
-
2001
C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
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.