The Holy Family

Details

WORKSHOP OF AMBROSIUS BENSON (?LOMBARDY C. 1495-1550 BRUGES)
The Holy Family
oil on panel, shaped top
7 ½ x 5 7⁄8 in. (19 x 14.9 cm.)

Provenance

Collection Kopf, Rome.
with Ehrich Galleries, New York, by 1929, as Ambrosius Benson, and by whom sold,
American Art Association, New York, Old Masters from the Ehrich Galleries, 18-19 April 1934, lot 24, as Ambrosius Benson (accompanied by a letter of expertise by M.J. Friedländer, dated 16 February 1929).
Private collection, New York, 1943, and by descent until sold at the following,
Anonymous sale; Christie's, New York, 24 January 2003, lot 28, as Circle of Adriaen Isenbrandt, where acquired by the present owner.

Literature

‘The Art Market’, Parnassus, I, no. 8, December 1929, p. 22, as Ambrosius Benson.
G. Marlier, Ambrosius Benson, Damme, 1957, pp. 323-324, no. 164, under Tableaux de Style Bensonien.

Exhibited

(Probably) Rochester, NY, The Memorial Art Gallery, on loan, 1932.

Conditions of sale

Présenté par

Taylor Alessio Associate Vice President, Associate Specialist Head of Part II

talessio@christies.com +1 212 636 2295

Descriptif du lot

This intimate devotional panel depicting the Holy Family is one of several variants attributed to Ambrosius Benson that derive from models developed by Benson's teacher, Gerard David (1460-1523). The Virgin tenderly supports the Christ Child with her left arm, while her right hand holds a three-budded white rose, a symbol of the Trinity. Jesus cups his mother's chin, his eyes gazing upwards into hers. Behind them, Joseph eats from a bowl of milk soup.

We are grateful to Till-Holger Borchert for proposing the attribution on the basis of digital images (written communication, 14 February 2022).

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