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The Holy Family under an Apple Tree Slider Image 1
The Holy Family under an Apple Tree Slider Image 2

Peter Paul Rubens and Studio

Flemish, 1577–1640

The Holy Family under an Apple Tree

c. 1632

Elizabeth kneels to support her praying son, John the Baptist, while his father Zacharias offers Jesus an apple branch. This act symbolizes Jesus’s role in Christian tradition as the savior, sacrificing himself to redeem humanity from Adam and Eve’s sin. Dynamic poses, sinuous curves, and bold contrasts of color are characteristics often associated with Rubens and his studio. This painting may have been completed by the artist’s students as a record of the composition of an earlier altarpiece.

Medium oil on panel
Dimensions 42 1/16 x 38 in. (106.9 x 96.5 cm)
Object Number 1955.950
Acquisition Acquired by Sterling and Francine Clark before 1955
Status Off View

Image Caption

Peter Paul Rubens and Studio, The Holy Family under an Apple Tree, c. 1632, oil on panel. Clark Art Institute, 1955.950

Select Bibliography

Brussels.. Cinq siècles d'art.. May 24-Oct. 13, 1935.. Worcester Art Museum.. Exhibition of Flemish Painting, Feb. 23-March 12, 1939; Philadelphia Museum, March 25-April 26, 1939. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Exhibit Twelve: Dutch and Flemish Masters. Exhibition catalogue. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1960. Max Rooses.. "Un nouveau Rubens.". vol. 18.. L'Art flamand et hollandais.. (1912).. . . vol. 37.. Art News Annual.. (Feb. 25, 1939).. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. List of Paintings in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1970. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. List of Paintings in the Sterling & Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1972. Hans Vlieghe.. Corpus Rubenianum Ludwig Burchard.. Antwerp.. 1973.. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. List of Paintings in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1984. Kern, Steven, ed. List of Paintings in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1992. Held, Julius S. "Old Masters in the Clark Collection, Part I: Paintings." The Magazine Antiques 62, no. 4 (October 1997): 504–9.

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