Artwork
The Holy Family
The Holy Family is an oil painting by the Northern Renaissance artist Martin Schongauer. It is held in the collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum.
About this work
Overview
Martin Schongauer’s oil on panel, dated 1493, presents a domestic scene of the Holy Family. The work is part of the collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna and exemplifies the artist’s engagement with religious subject matter through a modest interior setting.
Subject & Meaning
The composition features a woman in a vivid red garment cradling a barefoot infant who reaches for a cluster of grapes, while an older bearded man stands nearby holding a bundle of sticks. A cow’s head peeks from the shadowed background and a golden basket with a staff rests on the floor, adding layers of symbolic reference to nourishment and pastoral life.
Technique & Style
Schongauer employs a pronounced chiaroscuro, contrasting illuminated figures against a darkened interior to model form and create spatial depth. The luminous red of the woman’s robe and the delicate rendering of the infant’s hand demonstrate the artist’s skill in handling color and fine detail.
History & Provenance
Created at the close of the 15th century, the painting entered the holdings of the Kunsthistorisches Museum, where it has remained a documented part of the museum’s early Netherlandish collection. Its provenance prior to acquisition by the museum is not extensively recorded.
Context
The work reflects the late Gothic transition toward Renaissance naturalism, combining devotional iconography with everyday objects such as grapes and a cow, thereby grounding the sacred narrative in a familiar, domestic environment.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Martin Schongauer, also known as Martin Schön or Hübsch Martin by his contemporaries, was an Alsatian engraver and painter.
