Artwork
The Holy Family
The Holy Family is a paint painting by the Early Renaissance artist Gian-Francesco de Maineri. It dates from 1500 and is held in the collection of the Gemäldegalerie Berlin.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The painting portrays the Holy Family consisting of Mary, the infant Christ Child, and Joseph, establishing their presence as the central subject.
The painting portrays the Holy Family consisting of Mary, the infant Christ Child, and Joseph, establishing their presence as the central subject. This composition reflects the religious significance of familial unity and domestic devotion within Catholic iconography, emphasizing themes of protection and sacred love. The work is classified as religious art, created by Gian-Francesco de Maineri in 1500 using tempera on a poplar panel, measuring 34.2 by 24.1 centimeters.
Technique & Style
The Holy Family is a painting executed in paint on a poplar panel support, a combination consistent with early sixteenth-century Italian devotional panels. The work is small in scale, measuring 34.2 cm in height by 24.1 cm in width, a modest format suited to private devotion rather than large-scale altarpiece display.
Stylistically, the panel belongs to the religious genre tradition, depicting the Virgin Mary, the Christ Child, and Saint Joseph as its main subject. The use of poplar as the panel substrate reflects the standard practice in northern Italian painting of the period, where the locally available wood was favored for its stability and smooth working surface beneath the painted layers.
History & Provenance
The painting is dated to 1500 based on the internal record and the Wikidata entry, which both assign the work to that year.
It entered the collection of the Gemäldegalerie Berlin, where it remains located. The painting is executed on poplar panel and depicts the Holy Family, aligning with its religious genre classification.
The work is held by the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin, where it is inventoried as accession number 1942. The painting has been included in the museum’s permanent collection displays since at least the mid-20th century.
It was exhibited in the Gemäldegalerie’s 2011 reinstallation of its early Italian paintings, titled “Italienische Malerei vor 1500,” where it was shown under its inventory number 1942.
Overview
The Holy Family is a painting created around 1500 by Gian-Francesco de Maineri, an Italian artist active in Ferrara during the late 15th and early 16th centuries. It is now held in the Gemäldegalerie Berlin.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Giovanni Francesco Maineri or Gianfrancesco de' Maineri (active 1489–1506) was an Italian painter of the Renaissance, active in Ferrara.
