The Holy Family with Saints Elizabeth and John the Baptist
c. 1615
Medium
Oil on panel
Dimensions
114.5 × 91.5 cm (45 1/8 × 36 in.); Framed: 137.8 × 115.6 × 12.7 cm (54 1/4 × 45 1/2 × 5 in.)
Classification
oil on panel
Department
Painting and Sculpture of Europe
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
27310
Art Historical Context
Peter Paul Rubens, one of the leading masters of the Baroque period, painted *The Holy Family with Saints Elizabeth and John the Baptist* around 1615 in oil on panel This warm, intimate scene brings together the Virgin Mary, the Christ Child, Saint Joseph, and the young John the Baptist with his mother Elizabeth. Rubens’s characteristically rich colors and fluid brushwork infuse the figures with lifelike warmth and gentle movement, inviting viewers into a tender family moment charged with spiritual significance. Created during the Counter-Reformation, when the Catholic Church encouraged art t...
About the Artist
Peter Paul Rubens · 1577–1640
Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) stands as the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque tradition and the greatest exponent of Baroque painting's dynamism, vitality, and sensuous exuberance. Born in Siegen, Westphalia, and raised in Antwerp, Rubens received a humanist education studying Latin and classical literature before pursuing artistic training under three masters: Tobias Verhaecht, Adam ...