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The Holy Family with Saints Anne and Catherine of Alexandria

1648
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 624
Spanish by birth, Ribera lived all his adult life in Rome and Naples, which was then part of the Spanish Empire. This important composition attests to how Ribera followed Caravaggio’s practice of working directly from posed models, particularly evident in the background figures. He combined the foreground figures’ idealized faces with incidental details of clothing, choosing to omit halos and firmly grounding this Holy Family on earth. The powerful simplicity of colors and forms stems from Ribera’s study of earlier Roman artists, notably Raphael and Guido Reni.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Holy Family with Saints Anne and Catherine of Alexandria
  • Artist: Jusepe de Ribera (called Lo Spagnoletto) (Spanish, Játiva 1591–1652 Naples)
  • Date: 1648
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: 82 1/2 x 60 3/4 in. (209.6 x 154.3 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Samuel D. Lee Fund, 1934
  • Object Number: 34.73
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

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5159. The Holy Family with Saints Anne and Catherine of Alexandria

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More Artwork

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The Drunken Silenus holding a cup aloft into which a Satyr pours wine, Jusepe de Ribera (called Lo Spagnoletto) Spanish, Etching and engraving
The Drunken Silenus holding a cup aloft into which a Satyr pours wine
Jusepe de Ribera (called Lo Spagnoletto)
1628
The Penitence of Saint Peter, Jusepe de Ribera (called Lo Spagnoletto) Spanish, Etching and engraving
The Penitence of Saint Peter
Jusepe de Ribera (called Lo Spagnoletto)
1621
Saint Jerome Reading, Jusepe de Ribera (called Lo Spagnoletto) Spanish, Etching, engraving, and drypoint
Saint Jerome Reading
Jusepe de Ribera (called Lo Spagnoletto)
ca. 1624
Saint Jerome Hearing the Trumpet of the Last Judgment, Jusepe de Ribera (called Lo Spagnoletto) Spanish, Etching, engraving, and drypoint; first state of two (Brown)
Saint Jerome Hearing the Trumpet of the Last Judgment
Jusepe de Ribera (called Lo Spagnoletto)
1621
Battle Between a Centaur and a Triton with a Triton, Jusepe de Ribera (called Lo Spagnoletto) Spanish, Etching
Battle Between a Centaur and a Triton with a Triton
Jusepe de Ribera (called Lo Spagnoletto)
ca. 1620–1640

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