Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
The Holy Family with an Angel
(Renaissance Europe )
The subject of this painting is the celebration of Christ's birth even though the infant Christ, who stands in his mother's lap, seems much older than a newborn. The traditional witnesses of Christ's birth in the Bethlehem stable, the ox and the ass, stand at the left. The procession in the background signals a later event: the arrival of the three wise men from the East to pay homage to the Messiah.
The painting is spectacular for its many plant and animal details, each with a specific symbolic significance. For instance, the snail in the right corner was often meant to suggest sin because of its trail of slime, and the red poppy (the second flowering plant on the left) is a traditional symbol of Christ's Passion because of its color.
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.
Don Marcello Massarenti Collection, Rome [date and mode of acquisition unknown] [1897 catalogue: no. 504, as Lucas Cranach the younger]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1902, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Exhibitions
| 2005-2006 | Marco Palmezzano: Il Rinascimento nelle Romagne. Complesso di San Giacomo Apostolo, Forli. |
Conservation
| Date | Description | Narrative |
|---|---|---|
| 1/1/1900 | Examination | examined for condition |
| 1/1/1957 | Treatment | examined for condition; inpainted; other; varnish removed or reduced |
| 3/21/2005 | Examination | examined for loan |
| 4/25/2005 | Treatment | cleaned |
Geographies
Italy, Emilia-Romagna (Place of Origin)
Measurements
Painted surface H: 27 3/4 x W: 18 3/8 in. (70.5 x 46.7 cm); Panel H: 28 1/4 x W: 18 7/8 x D excluding auxiliary support: 1/4 in. (71.7 x 48 x 0.7 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired by Henry Walters with the Massarenti Collection, 1902
Location in Museum
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
37.546