FEMALE NARRATOR:
Scenes from the life of the infant Christ were extremely popular in 17-century Italian painting. This canvas by Nicolas Poussin, a French artist living in Rome, depicts the Holy Family on their return from Egypt. They are resting in the countryside with St. Elizabeth, the Virgin Mary’s cousin, and her young son, John the Baptist.
Mary and Joseph smile as the two children play. The wooden staff and bowl on the ground in front of them prefigure John’s later retreat as a hermit in the desert. On the right, a band of children approaches to offer flowers and the white Shroud of the Passion, symbol of Christ’s death on the cross. The children represent the first Christian martyrs, also known as the Holy Innocents. They were killed by soldiers of King Herod searching for the baby Jesus who, it was said, would be king of the Jews. According to the biblical book of Matthew:
MATTHEW [ACTOR]:
“Herod was furious [and]… gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under….”
FEMALE NARRATOR:
In the distance, a family in a boat has just escaped from two men on horseback—a reference to Joseph and Mary’s flight to Egypt. The theme held great interest for Poussin, who set the event in a magnificent Italianate landscape. Even light permeates the scene, punctuated by brilliant red, ochre and blue. Poussin’s love of antiquity is clearly evident here in the balanced composition and the classical proportions of the figures.
The Holy Family with the Infant St. John the Baptist and St. Elizabeth
1650-51
Nicolas Poussin (French, 1594-1665)
On View
Nicolas Poussin is considered to be one of the great French painters of the modern world. He is revered for developing a personal, innovative and rigorous style based on classical precedents and the High Renaissance. Through precisely orchestrated narratives, and the concentration of emotional response, Poussin produced paintings of outstanding originality.
This is one of Poussin’s most lyrical depictions of the Holy Family, a subject that occupied him during the 1650s. The Virgin and Saint Joseph look on as Saint John the Baptist and Christ playfully embrace. On the right is a procession of Christ’s first martyrs, the Holy Innocents. Their gestures point to the Christ Child, whose sacrifice on the cross will redeem their martyred souls. Two Innocents carry a basin with water, one carries a towel, which may refer to the Shroud of the Passion, and another kneels to adore the Holy Child. In the distance, a family in a boat, and two men on horseback, may recall the Holy Family’s flight into Egypt. The combination of figures and motifs in the composition suggest a message of purification and salvation.
Details
- Artist Name: Nicolas Poussin (French, 1594-1665)
- Title: The Holy Family with the Infant St. John the Baptist and St. Elizabeth
- Date: 1650-51
- Medium: Oil on canvas
- Dimensions: 39-5/8 x 52-1/8 in. (100.6 x 132.4 cm)
- Credit Line: Jointly owned by the Norton Simon Art Foundation, Pasadena and The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
- Accession Number: M.1981.6.P
- Copyright: © Norton Simon Art Foundation
Object Information
Charles, 3rd Duc de Créquy (d. 1687), Artois-Picardie, France, commissioned 1651.
Raoul de La Porte, Paris, by c. 1713?
William Cavendish (d.1764), 4th Duke of Devonshire, Chatsworth, Derbyshire, England (picture hanging in Devonshire House, London, by 1761), by inheritance to;
William Cavendish (d. 1811), 5th Duke of Devonshire, Chatsworth, Derbyshire, England (picture hanging in Devonshire House, London), by inheritance to;
William George Spencer Cavendish (d. 1858), 6th Duke of Devonshire, Chatsworth, Derbyshire, England (picture transferred from Devonshire House, London, to Chatsworth, c. 1835), by inheritance to;
William Cavendish (d. 1891), 7th Duke of Devonshire, Chatsworth, Derbyshire, England, by inheritance to;
Spencer Compton Cavendish (d. 1908), 8th Duke of Devonshire, Chatsworth, Derbyshire, England, by inheritance to;
Victor Christian William Cavendish (d. 1938), 9th Duke of Devonshire, Chatsworth, Derbyshire, England, by inheritance to;
Edward William Spencer Cavendish (d. 1950), 10th Duke of Devonshire, Chatsworth, Derbyshire, England, by inheritance to;
Andrew Robert Buxton Cavendish, 11th Duke of Devonshire, Chatsworth, Derbyshire, England (sale, London, Christie's, 10 April 1981, lot 100, to);
Norton Simon Art Foundation, Pasadena, and The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles.
Raoul de La Porte, Paris, by c. 1713?
William Cavendish (d.1764), 4th Duke of Devonshire, Chatsworth, Derbyshire, England (picture hanging in Devonshire House, London, by 1761), by inheritance to;
William Cavendish (d. 1811), 5th Duke of Devonshire, Chatsworth, Derbyshire, England (picture hanging in Devonshire House, London), by inheritance to;
William George Spencer Cavendish (d. 1858), 6th Duke of Devonshire, Chatsworth, Derbyshire, England (picture transferred from Devonshire House, London, to Chatsworth, c. 1835), by inheritance to;
William Cavendish (d. 1891), 7th Duke of Devonshire, Chatsworth, Derbyshire, England, by inheritance to;
Spencer Compton Cavendish (d. 1908), 8th Duke of Devonshire, Chatsworth, Derbyshire, England, by inheritance to;
Victor Christian William Cavendish (d. 1938), 9th Duke of Devonshire, Chatsworth, Derbyshire, England, by inheritance to;
Edward William Spencer Cavendish (d. 1950), 10th Duke of Devonshire, Chatsworth, Derbyshire, England, by inheritance to;
Andrew Robert Buxton Cavendish, 11th Duke of Devonshire, Chatsworth, Derbyshire, England (sale, London, Christie's, 10 April 1981, lot 100, to);
Norton Simon Art Foundation, Pasadena, and The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles.
17th Century French Art
- Bristol, 1938 to 1938
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- Waagen, G. F., Treasures of Art in Great Britian,1854, p. 93
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- Blunt, Anthony, The Burlington Magazine, p. 160
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- Felibien, A., Entretiens sur les vies et les ouvrages des plus excellents peintres anciens et modernes, pp. 62, 302
- Mahon, D., Gazette des Beaux-Arts, pp. 118, 120
- Campbell, Sara, Collector Without Walls: Norton Simon and His Hunt for the Best,2010, cat. 1671 p. 433
- Magne, E., Nicolas Poussin premier peinture du roi, p. 213
- Verdi, R., Nicolas Poussin,n. 39 pp. 30, 41
- Florent Le Comte, Cabinet de Singularitez etc., pp. 31-32
- Friedländer, Walter, Nicolas Poussin, A New Approach, pp. 68, 170
- Grautoff, O., Nicolas Poussin: sein Werk und sein Leben, p. 256
- Dempsey, Charles, The Burlington Magazine,fig. 38 pp. 311-313
- Brice, G., Description nouvelle de ce qu'il y de plus remarquable dans la ville de Paris, p. 191
- Blunt, Anthony, The Paintings of Nicolas Poussin: a Critical Approach,no. 58
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