Artwork
Holy Family
Holy Family is an oil painting by the Rococo painting artist Nicolas Vleughels. It dates from 1729 and is held in the collection of the Hermitage Museum.
About this work
Overview
Created in 1729 by French painter Nicolas Vleughels, this oil on canvas belongs to the Rococo period. The work portrays the Holy Family—Mary, Joseph, and the infant Jesus—within an intimate interior. It is part of the State Hermitage Museum’s collection in St. Petersburg.
Subject & Meaning
The composition centers on a woman cradling a baby, identified as Mary with the Christ Child, while a standing male figure, Joseph, gazes upward. Additional figures—two children and a kneeling attendant—populate the scene, suggesting a domestic, devotional atmosphere that emphasizes familial tenderness and reverence.
Technique & Style
Vleughels employs a chiaroscuro effect, allowing light to strike the faces and hands while deeper shadows recede into the stone‑walled room. This contrast creates spatial depth and emotional focus, characteristic of Rococo’s softer, intimate lighting and delicate handling of form.
History & Provenance
The artist, who directed the French Academy in Rome from 1724 until his death in 1737, painted the piece during his Roman period. After changing hands over the centuries, the canvas entered the State Hermitage Museum, where it remains on display as part of the museum’s European painting holdings.
Artist & collection
Artist
Nicolas Vleughels (6 December 1668, Paris – 11 December 1737, Rome) was a French painter.
