Artwork
The Holy Family with the Young Saint John the Baptist
The Holy Family with the Young Saint John the Baptist is an oil painting by the High Renaissance artist Andrea del Sarto. It dates from 1529 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
Additional iconography includes a white cushion alluding to Christ's shroud, a reed cross referencing his martyrdom, and a red cloth evoking the Passion.
The painting depicts the Holy Family with the young John the Baptist, who kneels at left and presents an orb (globe) to the Christ Child, held by Mary. This gesture carries a political meaning commissioned for Giovanni Borgherini during the Florentine republic: John the Baptist, patron saint of Florence, symbolically transfers the city's allegiance to Christ. Additional iconography includes a white cushion alluding to Christ's shroud, a reed cross referencing his martyrdom, and a red cloth evoking the Passion. The green velvet curtain is a Venetian element.
Technique & Style
Executed in oil on panel (135.9 × 100.6 cm), the painting displays Andrea del Sarto’s virtuosic handling through rich chromatic variation and strong, incident lighting. Patches of light illuminate the subjects, while the Virgin’s semi-transparent veil and the iridescent cloth covering the Christ Child showcase refined brushwork. The green velvet curtain behind the figures is of Venetian origin.
Stylistically, the work combines High Renaissance monumentality with Mannerist complexity: gestures and gazes form a circular, Leonardesque rhythm, and the figures’ massing recalls Michelangelo. A subtle eroticism, visible in details like the adolescent Baptist’s partly exposed pubis and the Virgin’s nipples, typifies the intimate, private devotional context.
History & Provenance
Andrea del Sarto painted the work around 1529. It was commissioned by Giovanni Borgherini, whose name likely influenced the prominence of the young Saint John the Baptist in the composition. The painting remained in private hands until it was acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1922 through the Maria DeWitt Jesup Fund.
It has since been housed at the Met, where it is catalogued as a High Renaissance oil-on-panel work.
The painting is held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, where it has been since 1922, acquired through the donation of the Maria DeWitt Jesup Foundation. No accession number or further exhibition history is provided in the sources.
Context
The painting was commissioned by Giovanni Borgherini in 1529, a period when Florence had declared itself a republic after ousting the Medici. Art historians interpret the work as having a political dimension: the young John the Baptist, Florence's patron saint, hands the orb to the Christ Child, symbolizing the city's allegiance to Christ alone. Stylistically, scholars describe it as a masterpiece of the full Florentine Renaissance, while also noting elements of Mannerism, such as varied poses, circular movement of gestures and glances derived from Leonardo, and figural monumentality inspired by Michelangelo, along with a subtle eroticism appropriate for its private setting.
The painting's place in art history is further evidenced by its inclusion in a 1983 triptych by artist Lea Lublin.
Overview
Andrea del Sarto's painting, The Holy Family with the Young Saint John the Baptist, created around 1528, is an oil on wood panel measuring 135.9 by 100.6 centimeters. It depicts the Virgin Mary and Christ Child at the center, accompanied by Saint Joseph and the young Saint John the Baptist. This work, now housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, showcases Sarto's renowned draftsmanship and carries subtle political undertones relevant to its Florentine context.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Andrea del Sarto was an Italian painter from Florence, whose career flourished during the High Renaissance and early Mannerism.
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