The Holy Family with St. Anna and the Boy John

about 1540, Artist: Agnolo di Cosimo, gen. Bronzino

 

 

The Holy Family with St. Anna and the Boy John

The Boy John occupies the prime position. Looks and gestures point to the child Jesus who is presented frontally to the viewer. Standing behind them is Mary, caressing her son lovingly. The composition is extended by Anna and Joseph. Bronzino enhances the sharply contoured and sculpture-like depiction to a stone-like coldness, encompassing particularly the two boys; this may well be an instance of the competition thought to exist between painting and sculpture that was debated time and again in the art theory of the period.

Location: Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien, Kabinett 8

Object data

Object Name

Painting

Culture

Italian, middle Italian

Dated

about 1540

Artist

Agnolo di Cosimo, gen. Bronzino (1503 Monticelli bei Florenz - 1572 Florenz) - GND

Material

Poplar wood

Dimensions

126,8 cm × 101,5 cm × 5,8 cm
Framed: 148,5 cm × 123,5 cm × 13,6 cm

Signed

Inscribed on the stone under the left foot of the Child Jesus: BROZINO FIORETINO

Image rights

Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien, Gemäldegalerie

Inv. No.

Gemäldegalerie, 183

Provenance

Grand Ducal sisters, Florence; 1792 by exchange from Florence to Vienna

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