Holy Family with St. John the Baptist and Angels
Domenico Beccafumi, 1521
This oil-on-canvas panel by Domenico Beccafumi, dated around 1521-1522, shows the Virgin Mary with the Christ Child and the young Saint John the Baptist, accompanied by angels. The arrangement of the figures owes a clear debt to Raphael, whose way of grouping sacred figures was widely admired by Italian Renaissance painters. The seraphim in the four corners are not thought to be by Beccafumi himself; they are generally considered later additions by a Sienese artist, perhaps dating to the end of the sixteenth century, so their present appearance should be read with some caution. The painting's early history is also uncertain. Medici inventories list two almost identical round panels by Beccafumi with angels' heads, so it is unclear when this work entered the collection. Its date has been established by comparison with the Nativity of San Martino.
- Painter
- Domenico Beccafumi
- Date
- 1521
- Museum
- Galleria Palatina, Florence
- Genre
- religious art
- Depicts
- Child Saint John, boy, Mary, woman, Christ Child
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