Holy Family

In the 1630s-1640s Rembrandt produced several works on the subject of the Holy Family. The Hermitage picture is dated and signed by the artist and was well known in Europe, where they often made copies of it. Rembrandt depicts a scene at the house of the carpenter Joseph. The head of the family is hard at work at his bench. The Virgin Mary slightly opens the curtain to look at the face of her son, her face radiating the light of love and tenderness. The warmth of the home is felt in the brownish gloom of the peaceful household, into which a clear golden light pierces, accompanying the hovering little angels. One of the angels is depicted in the pose of crucifixion. The State Hermitage Museum, St.Petersburg. Photo by Vladimir Terebenin.