Exhibition History Louisville. J. B. Speed Art Museum. "Old Masters from the Metropolitan," December 1, 1948–January 23, 1949, no catalogue.
Madison. Memorial Union Gallery, University of Wisconsin. "Old Masters from the Metropolitan," February 15–March 30, 1949, unnumbered cat.
Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center. "Old Masters from the Metropolitan," April 24–June 30, 1949, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "From Van Eyck to Bruegel: Early Netherlandish Painting in The Metropolitan Museum of Art," September 22, 1998–February 21, 1999, no. 62.
References Stella Rubinstein. "Two Pictures by Joos van Cleve (Master of the Death of the Virgin)." Art in America 4, no. 4 (October, 1916), pp. 350–51, fig. 1, as by Joos van Cleve; discusses it with numerous replicas. Martin Conway. The Van Eycks and Their Followers . London, 1921, p. 407, as one of two types of Virgin and Child compositions by Joos that are widely copied and disseminated. Ludwig von Baldass. Joos van Cleve, der Meister des Todes Mariä . Vienna, 1925, p. 35, no. 107, lists it among works ascribed to Joos by other writers, but not known to the author. Stella Rubinstein-Bloch. "Paintings—Early Schools." Catalogue of the Collection of George and Florence Blumenthal . 1, Paris, 1926, unpaginated, pl. 49. Max J. Friedländer. "Joos van Cleve, Jan Provost, Joachim Patenier." Die altniederländische Malerei . 9, Berlin, 1931, pp. 39–40, 138, no. 66m, calls it possibly an original by Joos van Cleve; lists it among replicas of the example in the National Gallery, London. Martin Davies. National Gallery Catalogues: Early Netherlandish School . London, 1945, p. 67, mentions it among versions of the painting in London and notes that it is reminiscent of that work's original design, known through pentimenti; observes that the type of Virgin's head reappears frequently in paintings of the Virgin in prayer and suggests that her extended left hand derives from Leonardo; believes that Joseph's straw hat may be taken from "some Flight into Egypt, where it is more proper" and calls the cut lemon an indication of the true subject, the weaning of Christ. Harry B. Wehle and Margaretta Salinger. The Metropolitan Museum of Art: A Catalogue of Early Flemish, Dutch and German Paintings . New York, 1947, p. 135, as a replica of Joos's Holy Family in the National Gallery, London; suggest that it is somewhat later in date than our other Joos Holy Family (32.100.57). Erwin Panofsky. Early Netherlandish Painting: Its Origins and Character . Cambridge, Mass., 1953, vol. 1, p. 354; vol. 2, pl. 333, fig. 495, discusses it as an example of the Master of the Death of the Virgin's (Joos van Cleve's) adaptation of old inventions of the Netherlandish tradition to new uses, merging them with Italian elements; notes that the artist retains here elements from the Flémalle Master's Frankfurt Madonna (Städelsches Kunstinstitut): the picturesque kerchief, the nursing motif and the gesture of the Infant Christ who embraces the Virgin's breast with both hands; notes that the Virgin's left hand is foreshortened in a Leonardesque manner. Max J. Friedländer comments and notes by Henri Pauwels in and Monique Gierts in "Joos van Cleve, Jan Provost, Joachim Patenier." Early Netherlandish Painting . 9, part 1, New York, 1972, p. 65, no. 66m, pl. 85. Elga Lanc. "Die religiösen Bilder des Joos van Cleve." PhD diss., Universität Wien, 1972, p. 47 n. 2, fig. 48. John Oliver Hand. "Joos van Cleve: The Early and Mature Works." PhD diss., Princeton University, 1978, pp. 159–60, 203–5, 273–75 nn. 36, 40, compares our painting with the version in London; suggests that Joos created an image out of quotations from Jan van Eyck and Rogier van der Weyden "not only because of a spirit of archaism but also because of the dearth of representations of this theme"; comments on the symbolic significance of the still life motifs. Norbert Schneider in "Wirtschafts- und sozialgeschichtliche Aspekte des Früchtestillebens." Stilleben in Europa . Exh. cat., Westfälisches Landesmuseum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte. 1979, p. 267, ill. Maryan W. Ainsworth. "Underdrawings in Paintings by Joos van Cleve at the Metropolitan Museum of Art." Le dessin sous-jacent dans la peinture . Colloque 4, Louvain-la-Neuve, 1982, pp. 161, 164–67 nn. 12–14, pls. 84–85 (the painting and reflectogram), notes that the design of this picture was pounced in its entiety, adding evidence for the belief that it is a workshop piece; compares it with Joos's Holy Family in London and suggests that both paintings rely on another, now lost, composition. Mark L. Evans. "An Early Altar–piece by Joos van Cleve." Burlington Magazine 124 (October, 1982), p. 623 n. 8. Maryan W. Ainsworth in "A Meeting of Sacred and Secular Worlds." From Van Eyck to Bruegel: Early Netherlandish Painting in The Metropolitan Museum of Art . Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1998, pp. 37, 250–52, 325, no. 62, ill. (color), ascribes it to the workshop of Joos van Cleve and dates it about 1515. Old Master Paintings . Sotheby's, New York. November 2, 2000, p. 16, compares our picture to a Holy Family by a "Follower of Joos van Cleve" (lot no. 11). John Oliver Hand. Joos van Cleve: The Complete Paintings . New Haven, 2004, p. 134, no. 33.10, as "workshop of Joos". Martha Wolff in Northern European and Spanish Paintings before 1600 in the Art Institute of Chicago . New Haven, 2008, pp. 169–70 nn. 7–8, fig. 1.