Artwork
The holy family with Saint John in a landscape
The holy family with Saint John in a landscape is an oil painting by the Rococo painting artist Balthasar Beschey. It dates from 1738 and is held in the collection of the Bavarian State Painting Collections.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
Consistent with the work's title, the scene also includes the young Saint John, completing the traditional grouping of these sacred figures.
Created in 1738 by Balthasar Beschey, this oil painting on copper depicts the Holy Family as its central religious subject. The composition features the Virgin Mary, the Christ Child, and Saint Joseph gathered within a landscape setting. Consistent with the work's title, the scene also includes the young Saint John, completing the traditional grouping of these sacred figures.
The piece functions as an example of religious art, utilizing the natural environment as a backdrop to frame the intimate interaction between the biblical characters.
Technique & Style
The Holy Family with Saint John in a Landscape is executed in oil paint on a copper support, a technique well suited to the fine, polished surface that copper provides. Dated 1738, the work is classified as a painting and is held in the Bavarian State Painting Collections at the Alte Pinakothek. Its modest dimensions, 39.1 cm in height by 29.7 cm in width, are consistent with the small-scale, jewel-like cabinet pictures for which copper supports were typically chosen, allowing for meticulous handling and a smooth, enamel-like finish.
Stylistically, the work belongs to the religious genre, depicting the Virgin Mary, the Christ Child, and Saint Joseph within a landscape setting, with the Holy Family as its main subject.
History & Provenance
The Holy Family with Saint John in a Landscape is an oil-on-copper work by Balthasar Beschey dated 1738. No information is available in the provided sources regarding its original commission, the circumstances of its creation, or its early ownership history.
The painting is currently held by the Bavarian State Painting Collections and is housed at the Alte Pinakothek in Munich. The sources do not document how or when the work entered this collection, nor do they identify any intermediate owners between its creation and its present institutional custody.
Context
Balthasar Beschey painted The holy family with Saint John in a landscape in 1738 using copper as support, classifying it as a religious landscape genre work. The painting depicts Mary, Christ Child, and Joseph and is housed in the Bavarian State Painting Collections at the Alte Pinakothek. Scholarship situates Beschey within 18th-century Flemish religious painting traditions, though no major critical commentary on this specific work is documented in the provided sources.
The composition draws on Baroque conventions of Holy Family depictions, reflecting contemporary devotional practices in Austrian Catholic circles. Its technical execution on copper aligns with period practices for small-scale devotional works intended for private contemplation.
Overview
Created in 1738 by Flemish artist Balthasar Beschey, this copper painting presents a modestly rendered holy family scene set within a natural landscape. The composition places the Virgin Mary, the infant Christ, Saint Joseph, and the young Saint John together under a canopy of trees, while two cherubic figures hover above and a small dog lies at their feet. The work reflects the decorative yet intimate character of the Rococo period.
Artist & collection
Artist
Balthasar Beschey (1708, Antwerp – 1776, Antwerp) was a Flemish painter, draughtsman and decorative painter of interiors.
Heilige Familie
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Heimkehr aus Ägypten
Vermählung der hl. Katharina
Die mystische Vermählung der hl. Katharina (Kopie nach)
Die Fünf Sinne
Maria mit Christuskind und einem Engel (Nachfolger)
The Holy Family with the Infant John the Baptist
Heilige Familie
Landschaft mit Figurenstaffage
Puttengruppe mit Blumen (?)- Holy Family and St. John