The Holy Family with Saints Anne and Catherine of Alexandria by José de Ribera

The Holy Family with Saints Anne and Catherine of Alexandria by José de Ribera

A sleeping child

The Christ Child lies asleep on Mary’s knee, one arm flung out. Around him are gathered Joseph, his grandmother Saint Anne, and Saint Catherine of Alexandria, who leans forward to take his foot and kiss it. The composition is a quiet version of Catherine’s mystical marriage to Christ — without the ring, just the reverence.

Ribera, softened

Ribera is best known for dark, harsh images of martyrdom and old men painted with every wrinkle, but in this late picture he shows a gentler side. The light is warmer, the faces tender, the colour richer. Catherine’s satin gown is painted with a brilliance that competes with Venetian painting.

Naples

Ribera was Spanish but spent his whole career in Naples, then ruled by Spain, where he was the dominant painter of his generation. This is one of the most admired works of his last decade.

Where it hangs

The canvas is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and measures 210 by 154 centimetres.

About this print

Made from a 3,722-pixel photograph of the original, enough to print sharply at up to about 24 inches on its longest side.

Sources: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York · Wikidata Q19911538 · Wikimedia Commons