The Holy Family with Saint John
Artist: Nicolas Poussin (French (active Rome), 1594-1665)
Date: about 1627
Dimensions:
H: 66 3/4 in. (169.5 cm); W: 47 1/2 in. (127 cm)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Classification: Paintings
Credit Line: Purchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey
Object number: 1976.23
Label Text:The subject of the Holy Family (Joseph, Mary, and Jesus) with John the Baptist did not illustrate a Biblical scene, but rather expressed the establishment of Christianity. The infant John the Baptist, Jesus’ cousin, holds a scroll proclaiming in Latin, “Behold the Lamb of God”—a reference to the Christ Child. John the Baptist was seen as the last of the Old Testament prophets and the first of the New Testament saints. His ancient scroll contrasts with Joseph’s book, symbolizing this transition from the old world to the new. The broken columns represent the passing of pagan Rome and the old authority.
French-born Nicolas Poussin painted The Holy Family with Saint John not long after he settled in Rome in 1624. By the 1630s he would become one of the chief advocates of intellectual, classically inspired painting in opposition to the more dynamic Baroque style that dominated the first half of the 17th century (see also his Mars and Venus in this gallery).
French-born Nicolas Poussin painted The Holy Family with Saint John not long after he settled in Rome in 1624. By the 1630s he would become one of the chief advocates of intellectual, classically inspired painting in opposition to the more dynamic Baroque style that dominated the first half of the 17th century (see also his Mars and Venus in this gallery).
Not on view
In Collection(s)