Artwork
Holy Family with St. Anne and the Infant St. John
Holy Family with St. Anne and the Infant St. John is an oil painting by the Mannerist artist Bronzino. It dates from 1545 and is held in the collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
Executed in 1545, this religious panel by Bronzino presents a complex grouping of the Holy Family alongside Saint Anne and the infant Saint John the Baptist.
Executed in 1545, this religious panel by Bronzino presents a complex grouping of the Holy Family alongside Saint Anne and the infant Saint John the Baptist. The composition centers on the Virgin Mary and the Christ Child, who are accompanied by Joseph, establishing the core domestic unit of Christian theology. The inclusion of Saint Anne, the Virgin's mother, emphasizes the lineage of Christ, while the presence of the young John the Baptist serves as a prophetic foreshadowing of Jesus's future sacrifice.
Set against a landscape background, the work utilizes these specific figures to explore themes of divine ancestry and the interconnected destinies of the sacred family members within the Mannerist tradition.
Technique & Style
Executed in 1545, this religious work by Bronzino is an oil painting created on a panel support. The composition features a formal arrangement of the Holy Family, including the Christ Child, Virgin Mary, Joseph, Saint Anne, and the infant Saint John, set against a landscape background. The dimensions of the panel are recorded as 126.8 cm in height and 101.5 cm in width.
While the specific handling of the brushwork and the current physical condition of the surface are not detailed in the available records, the piece is identified as a finished oil-on-panel work housed in the Kunsthistorisches Museum.
History & Provenance
The painting titled Holy Family with St. Anne and the Infant St. John was executed by Agnolo di Cosimo, known as Bronzino, in 1545. It is an oil work on panel measuring 126.8 cm by 101.5 cm and portrays the Holy Family together with Saint Anne and the infant Saint John against a landscape background. The work belongs to the collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
The available sources confirm the institution as the current location but do not specify a unique inventory or accession number for the work. Regarding exhibition history, the documentation does not list any specific past or upcoming exhibitions where this piece has been displayed.
Context
The work titled Holy Family with St. Anne and the Infant St. John, executed in oil on panel in 1545, exemplifies Bronzino's mature religious painting within the mid-sixteenth-century Florentine tradition. Its composition brings together the Virgin, Christ Child, Saint Joseph, Saint Anne, and the infant Saint John within a compact space, a scheme documented in both the artwork's catalogue entry and the museum's descriptive record. Measuring roughly 126.8 cm by 101.5 cm, the piece is classified as a religious work and is part of the permanent collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
Scholars cite it as a representative example of Bronzino's devotional imagery, reflecting the artistic conventions of his era.
Overview
Bronzino's Holy Family with St. Anne and the Infant St. John, completed in 1545, is an oil on panel painting characteristic of the Mannerist era. This sacred subject work, created in Florence, exemplifies the artist's engagement with religious commissions. It is currently housed in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
The composition brings together five key figures from Christian tradition, presented in a closely knit arrangement that reflects the period's stylistic trends.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Agnolo di Cosimo (Italian:; 17 November 1503 – 23 November 1572), usually known as Bronzino (Italian: Il Bronzino ) or Agnolo Bronzino, was an Italian Mannerist painter from Florence.
