“The Holy Family with the Lamb,” also the “Holy Falconieri Family” is a painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Raphael dated 1507 . It depicts the Virgin Mary , St. Joseph and the little Christ sitting astride a lamb.
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| Raphael Santi | ||
| Holy family with a lamb . 1507 | ||
| ital. Sacra famiglia con l'agnello | ||
| oil on poplar. 28 × 21.5 cm | ||
| Prado Museum , Madrid , Spain | ||
| ( inv. ) | ||
Content
Description
Virgin Mary helps the baby Christ sit astride the lamb . Leaning on a staff, Saint Joseph watches this. The scene takes place in an idyllic landscape with a church, a castle tower and several buildings in the background.
During his stay in Florence in 1505 - 1508 , Raphael studied deeply the work of Leonardo da Vinci , which was reflected in his own works. The lamb, the symbol of Christ’s sacrifice, was present in Leonardo’s works, such as “ Saint Anna with the Madonna and Child Christ ”, made for the Basilica of Santissima Annunziata in Florence [1] .
History
At the end of the XVII century, the painting became part of the British Royal Collection when Carlos IV (1748-1819) bought it from the Falconieri collection ( Italian: Falconieri ) in Rome. Then she was in the monastery of Escorial , and in 1837 she moved to the collection of the Prado Museum in Madrid.
Raphael's preparatory drawing of this painting is now in the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford [1] .