''Holy Family'' is a 1586-1588 oil on canvas painting by
El Greco
Domḗnikos Theotokópoulos ( el, Δομήνικος Θεοτοκόπουλος ; 1 October 1541 7 April 1614), most widely known as El Greco ("The Greek"), was a Greek painter, sculptor and architect of the Spanish Renaissance. "El G ...
, painted during his time in
Toledo
Toledo most commonly refers to:
* Toledo, Spain, a city in Spain
* Province of Toledo, Spain
* Toledo, Ohio, a city in the United States
Toledo may also refer to:
Places Belize
* Toledo District
* Toledo Settlement
Bolivia
* Toledo, Orur ...
and now in that city's
Museum of Santa Cruz
The Museum of Santa Cruz () is an art, archaeology and ethnographic museum located in the historic centre of the city of Toledo, Spain. It exhibits collections pertaining to the province of Toledo, including works painted by El Greco in the city ...
.
He frequently returned to the subject of the
Holy Family. In this variant he shows the Christ Child in Mary's lap. To the left is Mary's mother
St Anne
According to Christian apocryphal and Islamic tradition, Saint Anne was the mother of Mary and the maternal grandmother of Jesus. Mary's mother is not named in the canonical gospels. In writing, Anne's name and that of her husband Joachim come o ...
, whilst to the right are
Saint Joseph
Joseph (; el, Ἰωσήφ, translit=Ioséph) was a 1st-century Jewish man of Nazareth who, according to the canonical Gospels, was married to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the legal father of Jesus. The Gospels also name some brothers of ...
and the infant
John the Baptist.
A later 1590s variant uses a similar composition but omits John and changes the poses of Joseph and Anne.
See also
*
List of works by El Greco
El Greco was a Crete, Cretan-born Painting, painter, sculptor and architect of the Spanish Renaissance. El Greco left his birthplace for Venice in 1567, never to return. El Greco's three years in Venice profoundly influenced his style. In 1577, he ...
Bibliography
* ÁLVAREZ LOPERA, José, ''El Greco'', Madrid, Arlanza, 2005, Biblioteca «Descubrir el Arte», (colección «Grandes maestros»). .
* SCHOLZ-HÄNSEL, Michael, ''El Greco'', Colonia,
Taschen, 2003. .
External links
*
{{El Greco
Paintings by El Greco
El Greco
Domḗnikos Theotokópoulos ( el, Δομήνικος Θεοτοκόπουλος ; 1 October 1541 7 April 1614), most widely known as El Greco ("The Greek"), was a Greek painter, sculptor and architect of the Spanish Renaissance. "El G ...
category:1590s paintings
Paintings of John the Baptist
Paintings in Toledo, Spain