The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 23, 2025

A circular painting of five people sitting outside with a city with classical architecture in the background. From our left side of the painting, there is a man with a medium skin tone, a woman with a light skin tone holding a baby with a light skin tone, and a child with a light skin tone being held by another woman with a light skin tone. The baby has a golden halo over his head and everyone is looking towards him as he and the child embrace.

The Holy Family with Saint John the Baptist and Saint Margaret

c. 1488–93
(Italian, c. 1457–1504)
Italy
tempera and oil on wood
Framed: 184 x 186 x 9.5 cm (72 7/16 x 73 1/4 x 3 3/4 in.); Diameter: 153 cm (60 1/4 in.)
The Delia E. Holden Fund and a fund donated as a memorial to Mrs. Holden by her children: Guerden S. Holden, Delia Holden White, Roberta Holden Bole, Emery Holden Greenough, Gertrude Holden McGinley 1932.227
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

This type of painting is known as a tondo, a circular work of art.

Description

Lippi’s sophisticated composition gracefully overlaps five figures in a round format. Oliviero Carafa, Cardinal of Naples, commissioned this work, although Lippi probably painted it in Rome while working for the cardinal’s family, an example of the widespread taste across Italy for the art of Florence. Meticulously detailed still-life elements on the parapet, thick with symbolic meaning, reflect Lippi’s interest in northern European painting he would have seen in Florence. Likewise the classical architecture—referring to the pagan world cast off by Christianity—demonstrates his engagement with ancient art and architecture in Rome. Embellished with learned references and made with expensive materials, this painting would have actively inspired religious meditation and demonstrated the patrons’ courtly, civilized taste.
  • 1858-1898
    Carafa family, Palazzo Sant'Angelo, Naples
    1898
    Mrs. Samuel D. Warren, Boston
    1928
    Edward Warren, Lewes House, England
    1929
    H. A. Thomas
    1932
    Harry Woodbury Parsons, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art.
    1932-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
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  • {{cite web|title=The Holy Family with Saint John the Baptist and Saint Margaret|url=false|author=Filippino Lippi|year=c. 1488–93|access-date=23 April 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1932.227