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| Title | The Holy Family | |
| Collection | Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery | |
| Artist | Studio of Cortona, Pietro da (Italian draftsman and painter, 1596-1669) | |
| Date Earliest | about 1650 | |
| Date Latest | about 1700 | |
| Description | The cult of the infant Christ in the Counter Reformation was expressed in a number of themes showing the Child in relation to the cross as a visual reference to his death and sacrifice. The baby Jesus lies sprawled corpse-like in his mother's lap on a shroud-like garment. Angels attend him while Joseph remains at a respectful distance and putti hover overhead bearing the cross. | |
| Current Accession Number | 1975P407 | |
| Former Accession Number | P.407´75 | |
| Subject | religion (Holy Family, angels, putti) | |
| Measurements | 144.8 x 115.6 cm cm (estimate) | |
| Material | oil on canvas | |
| Acquisition Details | Given by the Friends of Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery 1973. | |
| Provenance | Henry Hope sale, Christie's, London, 29 June 1816 as The Holy Family with Angels supporting the cross, bought by Moseley [?]; Bought from Agnew's for £750; The Society of St Mary & St John of Lichfield, sold, 3 March 1965, lot 15, as 'The Property of the Provost and Fellows of the Society of St Mary and St John of Lichfield (removed from the Prestefelde School Chapel)'. | |
| Publications | Foreign Paintings in Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, A Summary Catalogue, 1983, no. 36, ill. | |
| Notes | Another version is in the Pallavinci Collection, Rome and one in the Pfarrkirche, Walterskirchen, Austria. It is thought that the Austrian painting is the original, the Pallarvinci version, a poor copy and the Birmingham version, a good studio copy. A drawing that relates to this painting is in the Lugt Collection, Fondation Custodia at the Institut Néerlandais in Paris from the Hudson and Reynolds Collection, inv no. 1. 6246. A Holy Family is mentioned in the inventory of the Pitti Palace, 1638 (Archivio de Stato, Firenze Guardaroba Medicea, F 535). | |
| Rights Owner | Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery | |
| Author | Dr Patricia Smyth | |