The Holy Family

Ca. 1776. Oil on panel.
Not on display

The Virgin, seated with the Christ child, is represented in the foreground. Saint Joseph stands behind them with the flowered staff that characterizes him as Mary´s companion. This work is an example of cabinet painting, small works that Bayeu made as part of his artistic career, alongside his sketches for frescos. It reveals his acceptance of the neoclassical guidelines of moderation and naturalness, as opposed to the decorative exuberance of the earlier baroque manner. The work´s fine brushstrokes and bright, sensationalist light are habitual characteristics of his religious painting.

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Inventory number: P005119
Author: Francisco Bayeu
Title: The Holy Family
Date: Ca. 1776
Technique: Oil
Support: Panel
Dimension: Width: 80 cm; Height: 108 cm; Depth: 1.5 cm
Provenance: Royal Collection (Royal Palace of Aranjuez, Madrid, “undécima pieza del cuarto del príncipe”, 1818, n. 397)

Bibliography +

Lozoya, Juan de Contreras y López de Ayala, Marqués de, Historia del arte hispánico, IV, Salvat, Barcelona, 1945, pp. 511.

Museo Nacional del Prado, Noticias del Prado. Levantamiento de depósitos. Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Casa Museo Colón, Boletín del Museo del Prado, VIII (24), 1987, pp. 207.

Museo Nacional del Prado, Museo del Prado: inventario general de pinturas (I) La Colección Real, Museo del Prado, Espasa Calpe, Madrid, 1990.

Morales y Marín, José Luis, Francisco Bayeu. Vida y obra, Ediciones Moncayo, Zaragoza, 1995, pp. 98, nº 93.

Francisco Bayeu: 1734-1795 : exposición Zaragoza, 18 abril-1, Museo e Instituto de Humanidades "Camón Aznar", Zaragoza, 1996, pp. 192-194, nº42.

Museo Nacional del Prado, Catálogo de las pinturas, Ministerio de Educación y Cultura, Madrid, 1996, pp. 21.

Hollweg, Pia, Anton Raphael Mengs’ Wirken in Spanien, Peter Lang, 2008, pp. 114-115.

Other inventories +

Inv. Fernando VII, Aranjuez, 1814-1818. Núm. 397.
QUARTO DEL PRINCIPE [...] Undécima Pieza [...] {21097} 397 / tabla vara de ancho vna y tercia de alto Nuestra Seññora con el Niño y S. Josef = Bayeu

Catálogo Museo del Prado, 1854-1858. Núm. 566.

Inv. Real Museo, 1857. Núm. 566.
Bayeu. /566. Sacra Familia. (Tabla) /Alto 3 pies, 8 pulg, 9 lin; ancho 2 pies, 9 pulg, 6 lin.

Catálogo Museo del Prado, 1872-1907. Núm. 660.