The Holy Family and Two Angels

1605

Lucas Kilian, after Bartholomaeus Spranger

Associated Names
Lucas Kilian

Artist, German, 1579 - 1637

Bartholomaeus Spranger

Artist After, Netherlandish, 1546 - 1611

The image shows a woman holding a child on her lap. The woman is seated to the left of the composition and is looking upwards. Her hair is styled in curls, and she wears a long flowing garment. The child on her lap is also looking up, with curly hair and dressed in a simple robe. To the right, another child with curly hair is holding a lamb. An older man with long hair and a beard stands behind the woman, gesturing with his hand. In the right background, an angel is playing a stringed instrument with large wings visible behind him. At the lower left, another winged figure is depicted holding a similar musical instrument. The background includes architectural elements like columns and draped curtains.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    engraving on laid paper

  • Credit Line

    Gift of Ruth Cole Kainen

  • Dimensions

    sheet: 48.6 × 32.8 cm (19 1/8 × 12 15/16 in.) (trimmed)

  • Accession Number

    2012.92.538

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Hollstein, no. 43, State only

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

(James Bergquist, Boston); Ruth Kainen, Washington, D.C., purchased July 16, 2003; Gift to NGA, 2012.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

2013

  • Northern Mannerist Prints from the Kainen Collection, NGA, 2013 - 2014.

Bibliography

1949

  • Hollstein, F.W.H. et al. German etchings, engravings and woodcuts, ca. 1450-1700. Amsterdam: Van Gendt & Co, 1976: Vol. XVII, no. 43.

Inscriptions

in image, at at bottom right: S. C. M. Pictor. B: / Spranger pinxit; below image: H. Opuer, ô mater, DEVS ille, DEI ista, quid addam / Addere quid psalte, quid citharoede potes. / A. Cernis ut altitonans placidum sit uersus in agnum. / Agnus ut ille fames sit tua, sitque sitis. / ADM. REVERENDO, DOMINO DNO IACOBO CHIMARRHAEO S. R. E. PROTONOT. COMITI PALAT. APLICO. ET IMP. EQVITI AVRATAE / MILITIAE. ELEEMOSYNARIO CAES. MAI. MAIORI. SVBMISS. OBSERV. ERGO LVCAS KILIANVS CHALCOGRAPH. CIVIS AVG. D. D. D. CIƆ IƆ C V.

Watermarks

Fragment "MN"

Wikidata ID

Q76557129

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