The Holy Family with Four Saints and a Female Donor
c. 1510
Medium
Oil on panel
Dimensions
125.3 × 120 cm (49 3/8 × 47 1/4 in.); Framed: 147.4 × 141.7 × 10.2 cm (58 × 55 3/4 × 4 in.)
Classification
oil on panel
Department
Painting and Sculpture of Europe
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
111250
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Here, the infant Jesus sits in a central position on the lap of his mother, Mary, with Saint John the Evangelist nearby, holding a golden chalice. The half-length representation of a kneeling woman at the bottom right represents the donor who commissioned the painting, likely for a small church or private chapel. This type of composition, with several figures grouped around the Holy Family and a donor present, is known as a sacra conversazione (sacred conversation) and was popular in 16th-centur...