Artwork
Den hellige familie
Den hellige familie is an oil painting by the German Romanticist artist Carl Christian Seydewitz. It dates from 1809 and is held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
According to the catalogue record, the work portrays Mary, the Christ Child, and Joseph, the three figures who form the core of this iconographic theme.
The painting depicts the Holy Family, a traditional devotional subject in Christian art centered on the nuclear family of Jesus. According to the catalogue record, the work portrays Mary, the Christ Child, and Joseph, the three figures who form the core of this iconographic theme.
The Holy Family as a subject emerged in late medieval and Renaissance art as a means of presenting the humanity of Christ through his domestic relationships, while also offering a model of pious family life for viewers. The grouping of Mary, Joseph, and the Christ Child emphasizes themes of divine incarnation, parental devotion, and sacred kinship.
Classified within the genre of religious art, the painting participates in this long-standing visual tradition of venerating the Holy Family as both a theological subject and an emblem of familial virtue.
Technique & Style
The painting is executed in oil on canvas, measuring 215 centimeters in height by 169 centimeters in width. It portrays the Virgin Mary, the infant Christ Child, and Saint Joseph in a traditional composition. The work demonstrates the formal characteristics typical of early 19th‑century religious painting, with careful attention to figure arrangement and drapery.
History & Provenance
The painting Den hellige familie by Carl Christian Seydewitz is dated 1809, as indicated by the work's cataloged inception year. It entered the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst in Copenhagen, where it remains. The work is catalogued as an oil on canvas religious piece depicting Mary, Joseph, and the Christ Child, and measures 215 cm in height by 169 cm in width. No specific inventory number or exhibition history is documented in the available sources.
Overview
Created in 1809 by Carl Christian Seydewitz, a Danish‑German painter who also served as an army officer, Den hellige familie is an oil painting that presents a religious scene of the Holy Family. The work is part of the permanent collection of Denmark’s Statens Museum for Kunst.
Context
The painting belongs to the early‑19th‑century German Romantic movement, which favored emotional depth and spiritual subjects. Seydewitz, though styling himself with the noble prefix “von,” was not of aristocratic birth, reflecting the era’s fluid social boundaries for artists serving both military and artistic roles.
Artist & collection
Artist
Carl Christian von Seydewitz (3 November 1777 – 10 October 1857) was a Danish-German portrait painter and army officer. He was not a member of the nobility but, from 1770 to 1860, officers were allowed to use "von" with their surnames.
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