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The Holy Family with the Infant Saint John the Baptist

ca. 1524–26
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 609
Florentine by birth, Perino was trained in Raphael’s workshop in Rome, where he soon became one of the most inventive artists of his generation. This is a rare, early devotional painting. It includes traditional symbols such as the goldfinch (symbolic of the Resurrection), but also more unusual details, especially a young Saint John the Baptist who is crowned with grape leaves and wears a leopard skin, attributes of the pagan god Bacchus who, like John, was associated with rebirth. The care that Perino invested in this panel is especially evident in the vivid features of the infant Christ, which may derive from his study of an actual child.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Holy Family with the Infant Saint John the Baptist
  • Artist: Perino del Vaga (Pietro Buonaccorsi) (Italian, Florence 1501–1547 Rome)
  • Date: ca. 1524–26
  • Medium: Oil on wood
  • Dimensions: 34 3/4 x 25 5/8 in. (88.3 x 65.1 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Acquisitions Fund, Mark Fisch and Rachel Davidson, Denise and Andrew Saul, and Friends of European Paintings Gifts, Gwynne Andrews Fund, Mr. and Mrs. J. Tomilson Hill, Jon and Barbara Landau, Charles and Jessie Price, Hester Diamond, and Fern and George Wachter Gifts, 2011

  • Object Number: 2011.26
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

More Artwork

More Artwork
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Christ and the Daughter of the Centurion, Perino del Vaga (Pietro Buonaccorsi) Italian, Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash, over traces of black chalk
Christ and the Daughter of the Centurion
Perino del Vaga (Pietro Buonaccorsi)
Anonymous, Italian, 16th century
16th century
Sketch for a wall panel in the Sala Paolina at Castel Sant' Angelo, Rome, Perino del Vaga (Pietro Buonaccorsi) Italian, Pen and brown ink
Sketch for a wall panel in the Sala Paolina at Castel Sant' Angelo, Rome
Perino del Vaga (Pietro Buonaccorsi)
ca. 1546
Minerva from the "Doria Grotesques", Perino del Vaga (Pietro Buonaccorsi) Italian, Wool, silk (17-19 warps per inch, 7-8 per cm.), Netherlandish, Brussels
Minerva from the "Doria Grotesques"
Perino del Vaga (Pietro Buonaccorsi)
Joost van Herzeele
Designed 1545, woven ca. 1550
Allegory or Goddess (Juno?), Perino del Vaga (Pietro Buonaccorsi) Italian, Pen and brown ink
Allegory or Goddess (Juno?)
Perino del Vaga (Pietro Buonaccorsi)
16th century
Design for a Grotesque Wall Decoration, Perino del Vaga (Pietro Buonaccorsi) Italian, Pen and brown ink
Design for a Grotesque Wall Decoration
Perino del Vaga (Pietro Buonaccorsi)
1501–47

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