The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of April 19, 2024
The Holy Family
c. 1620s
Location: not on view
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With hennaed fingertips Mary holds the vase so baby Jesus doesn’t tip it over.Description
This painting of Joseph, the Virgin Mary, and the infant Jesus is based on European sources, but it also contains several details that are specifically Indian. For example, although Mary is dressed in classical European-style robes, she is adorned with jewelry of rubies and emeralds, the preferred gems of Mughal royalty. Her fingertips are also red with henna, and she wears a bindi on her forehead. The detailed rendering of the vase evokes the Catholic St. Francis as well as Indian worship of the sun. The vessel itself points to the appreciation of Chinese blue-and-white ware imported from imperial Ming-dynasty kilns to the court of Jahangir (reigned 1605–27).- Benay, Erin E. Italy by Way of India: Translating Art and Devotion in the Early Modern World. Turnhout: Harvey Miller Publishers, 2021. Mentioned and reproduced: pp. 19–21, fig. 7
- Art and Stories from Mughal India. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 31-October 23, 2016).The Cleveland Museum of Art (7/31/2016-10/23/2016); Art and Stories from Mughal India, cat. 52, p. 99.Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 245); January 5, 2015 - April 27, 2015.
- {{cite web|title=The Holy Family|url=false|author=|year=c. 1620s|access-date=19 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2013.312