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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

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.

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