3-002-623 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

The Holy Family with the Young St. John the Baptist, St. John the Evangelist, and a Donor, c1510. This painting combines two of the most popular subjects in Italian Renaissance art: the “sacred conversation” (a group of holy figures are placed in a unified space) and the Nativity. The Virgin Mary, standing before deep green cloth of honor, and Saint Joseph (left) adore the newborn Christ, who in accordance with biblical tradition lies in a simple straw manger. Christ’s infant cousin John the Baptist joins in the adoration while one of Christ’s later followers, John the Evangelist, is absorbed in a book at the right. The man beneath Saint John—bust-length, in prayer, and in typical 16th-century dress—is the individual who commissioned the work. Renaissance art patrons often asked to be depicted in their religious commissions as an expression of their piety. This painting was likely intended as a private devotional object in the man’s home.