Artwork
Holy Family
Holy Family is an oil painting by the Mannerist artist Jacopino del Conte. It dates from 1566 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The painting depicts the Holy Family, a devotional subject showing the Virgin Mary, the Christ Child, and Saint Joseph grouped together as a sacred unit.
The painting depicts the Holy Family, a devotional subject showing the Virgin Mary, the Christ Child, and Saint Joseph grouped together as a sacred unit. According to the cataloguing, the work portrays Joseph, Christ, and Mary as its principal figures, with the Holy Family identified as the main subject. This iconographic grouping was a popular focus of religious art in the mid-sixteenth century, presenting the earthly family of Jesus as a model of piety and domestic harmony.
Rendered in oil on panel, the composition gathers the three holy figures within a single devotional image intended for veneration and contemplation of the Incarnation.
Technique & Style
The work titled Holy Family, painted by Jacopino del Conte in 1566, is executed in oil on a wooden panel. Its dimensions measure approximately 120.7 cm in height and 85.7 cm in width, reflecting the scale typical of late‑Renaissance religious paintings. The composition presents the Virgin, Saint Joseph, and the infant Christ in a tightly grouped, intimate arrangement, emphasizing devotional intimacy.
As a religious genre piece, the painting employs a naturalistic style with careful attention to drapery and gesture, characteristic of the period’s devotional art. It remains in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it is preserved as part of the museum’s European painting holdings.
History & Provenance
The Holy Family by Jacopino del Conte was created in 1566, executed in oil paint and classified as a religious painting. According to the available records, the work entered the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it is currently held. The painting depicts the Holy Family, comprising Joseph, Christ, and Mary, and is recorded with dimensions of 120.7 cm in height and 85.7 cm in width.
No information regarding an original commission, prior ownership chain, or intermediate provenance prior to its acquisition by the Metropolitan Museum of Art is documented in the available sources.
The Holy Family by Jacopino del Conte is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, as recorded in the Wikidata entry for the work. The painting, executed in oil on panel in 1566, measures 120.7 by 85.7 centimeters and is catalogued within the museum's holdings of religious art. No specific accession number is provided in the available sources.
Likewise, the sources do not document any exhibition history for the painting, leaving its display record beyond what can be substantiated here.
Overview
Jacopino del Conte's Holy Family, an oil painting from 1566, depicts a central scene from Christian tradition. This work portrays the Virgin Mary, Saint Joseph, and the Christ Child in an intimate setting. Currently housed at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the painting exemplifies religious art of the mid-16th century, focusing on the domestic and devotional aspects of the sacred figures.
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