Who painted Holy Family with Child St. John?

Holy Family with Child St. John was painted by Hans Burgkmair I in 1525-01-01.

Where can I see Holy Family with Child St. John?

Holy Family with Child St. John is held by Gemäldegalerie Berlin.

What movement is Holy Family with Child St. John?

Holy Family with Child St. John is associated with Northern Renaissance.

Artwork

Holy Family with Child St. John

Hans Burgkmair I , 1525

Holy Family with Child St. John is an oil painting by the Northern Renaissance artist Hans Burgkmair I. It dates from 1525 and is held in the collection of the Gemäldegalerie Berlin. Hans Burgkmair the Elder’s oil painting, Holy Family with Child St.

About this work

Technique & Style

5 cm in width, reflecting Burgkmair's characteristic emphasis on rich coloration and detailed facial expressions within a tightly composed devotional scene.

Hans Burgkmair the Elder created Holy Family with Child St. John in 1525 using oil paint on a wooden panel, a technique typical of early 16th-century German religious painting. The work measures 74.2 cm in height and 53.5 cm in width, reflecting Burgkmair's characteristic emphasis on rich coloration and detailed facial expressions within a tightly composed devotional scene. The formal execution demonstrates careful handling of light and spatial relationships, aligning with the stylistic conventions of the Augsburg school during the Renaissance period.

History & Provenance

Hans Burgkmair the Elder created the oil painting Holy Family with Child St. John in 1525. Executed on a panel measuring 74.2 cm in height and 53.5 cm in width, the work depicts a religious scene featuring the Holy Family alongside the infant Saint John. The painting is currently held in the collection of the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin, where it remains part of the institution's holdings of religious art.

The painting is held in the Gemäldegalerie Berlin, as recorded in the Wikidata entry for the work. The same source identifies the medium as oil on panel and gives the inception year as 1525, though it does not provide a specific inventory or accession number.

No exhibition history is documented in the available sources.

Overview

Hans Burgkmair the Elder’s oil painting, Holy Family with Child St. John, dates from 1525 and is part of the Gemäldegalerie Berlin collection. The work presents a domestic scene in which the Virgin Mary cradles the infant Jesus, while a youthful John the Baptist reaches toward the pair. A bearded Joseph stands nearby, observing the family. The composition is set against a modest townscape under a cloudy sky.

Subject & Meaning

The image brings together the central figures of Christian devotion: Mary, the newborn Christ, and the infant John the Baptist, who is traditionally portrayed as a precursor to Jesus. Their close proximity emphasizes the familial bond and foreshadows John’s future role as the herald of Christ. The attentive gestures of the children and Joseph’s watchful presence convey themes of protection, innocence, and divine destiny.