The Holy Family
circle of Joos van Cleve (c.1480 - Antwerp 1541/51)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1520
Materials
Oil on panel
Measurements
445 x 342 mm (17 ½ x 13 ½ in)
Place of origin
Antwerp
Order this imageCollection
Calke Abbey, Derbyshire
NT 290235
Caption
The small size of this picture suggests that it was painted to be hung in a home for private, devotional purposes. The red and blue worn by the Virgin were traditional colours for her; red to hint at Christ’s passion, blue being appropriate to the Queen of Heaven. Her opulent clothing may have been stipulated by a wealthy patron. The grapes on the stand refer to the institution of the Eucharist. We have little information about the painter, simply that he belonged in the circle of Joos van Cleve, an Antwerp artist of the early 1500s. Possibly he joined the Antwerp painters’ guild at the same time, or worked for the same patrons as van Cleve. Van Cleve was influenced by the work of Quentin Matsys and painted with the landscapist Joachim Patinir, both from Antwerp.
Summary
Oil painting on panel, The Holy Family, circle of Joos van Cleve (?Kleve c.1464 - Antwerp c.1540). The Virgin, dressed in blue and pink, sits with the Christ Child on her knee. Behind Saint Joseph, in blue and red, there is a view of a town through an arched window.
Provenance
Calke Abbey was given to the National Trust by Henry Harpur Crewe (1921-1991) and the contents, including this painting, were acquired with the aid of a grant from the National Heritage Fund, thanks to a special allocation of money from the Government, in 1984
Credit line
Calke Abbey, The Harpur Crewe Collection (acquired by the National Trust with the help of the help of the National Heritage Memorial Fund in 1984)
Makers and roles
circle of Joos van Cleve (c.1480 - Antwerp 1541/51), artist