The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of May 14, 2024

The Holy Family (Christ in the Lap of Truth)

The Holy Family (Christ in the Lap of Truth)

c. 1805
(British, 1757–1827)
England, London, 18th century
black, gray, and brown ink applied with pen and point of brush; gray, pink, yellow, and green wash
Sheet: 37.9 x 32.5 cm (14 15/16 x 12 13/16 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 1950.239
Catalogue raisonné: Butlin 471
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

This drawing was first owned by Thomas Butts, an English civil servant who became William Blake's most important patron and supporter for about two decades.

Description

Although he rejected institutionalized religion, Blake was intensely spiritual, and much of his art was inspired by a highly personal reading of the Bible or by literature based upon it, such as John Milton’s Paradise Lost (1667). The Virgin Mary is centered in this highly stylized composition. Upon her lap she clasps the infant Christ whose outstretched arms foreshadow the Crucifixion. The Mother and Child are flanked by Saint Joseph on the left, and Saint Anne (the Virgin’s mother), on the right. Below, Saint John the Baptist, who foretold Christ’s death and resurrection, plays with a lamb.
  • after 1805-by 1845
    Thomas Butts [1757-1845], London
    probably after 1845-by 1853
    Thomas Butts Jr.
    1853
    (his sale, Property of Thomas Butts, Esq., Messrs. Foster and Son, London, June 29, 1853, no. 127, sold to Henry George Bohn)
    1853-?
    Henry George Bohn [1796-1884], London
    ?-1901
    Alexander Anderdon Weston [1822-1901; Lugt 65], by descent to his widow
    1901-1904
    Mrs. Alexander Anderdon Weston
    1904
    (her anonymous sale, Christie's, London, June 28, 1904, no. 5, sold to E. Parsons)
    1904
    E. Parsons, sold to W. Graham Robertson
    1904-1949
    W. Graham Robertson [1866-1948], London
    1949
    (his sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, Ltd., London, July 22, 1949, no. 24, probably sold to Thomas Agnew and Sons, London)
    1949-1950
    (Thomas Agnew and Sons, London, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH)
    1950-
    Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
    Provenance Footnotes
    1 as Holy Family.
  • Gilchrist, Alexander and William Michael Rossetti. Life of William Blake: "Pictor Ignotus," with Selections from His Poems and Other Writings. London: R. Clay, Son, and Taylor, 1863. Mentioned: vol. 2, p. 230, no. 182
    Exhibition of the Works of William Blake. Exh. Cat. London: Burlington Fine Arts Club, 1876. Mentioned: no. 144
    Gilchrist, Alexander and William Michael Rossetti. Life of William Blake with Seleions from His Poems and Other Writings. London: Macmillan, 1880. Mentioned: vol. 2, p. 243, no. 207 or 209
    Richter, Helene. William Blake. Strassburg: J.H. Ed. Heitz, 1906. Mentioned: p. 173; Reproduced: pl. V
    Exhibition of Works by William Blake. Exh. Cat. London: Carfax and Co., Ltd., 1906. Mentioned: p. 19, no. 69
    de Selincourt, Basil. William Blake. London: Duckworth, 1909. Mentioned: pp. 200-202; Reproduced: between pp. 200 and 201 archive.org
    The Century of Art Exhibition of the International Society of Sculptors, Painters, and Gravers. Exh. Cat. London: Grafton Galleries, 1911. Mentioned: p. 35, no. 125
    Russell, Archibald. "The Graham Robertson Collection." Burlington Magazine 37, no. 208 (July 1920): 27-29, 32-35, 39. Mentioned: p. 34 www.jstor.org
    Russell, Archibald. William Blake (1757-1827). Exh. Cat. London: Tate Gallery, 1947. Mentioned: p. 37, no. 76
    77th Annual Exhibition of Water-Colour Drawings. Exh. Cat. London: Thomas Agnew & Sons, Ltd., 1950. Mentioned: no. 74
    Preston, Kerrison. The Blake Collection of W. Graham Robertson. London: Faber and Faber, 1952. Mentioned: pp. 144-45
    Keynes, Sir Geoffrey. William Blake's Illustrations to the Bible. London: Trianon, 1957. Mentioned: pp. 30-31, no. 104; Reproduced: pl. 104
    The Art of William Blake. Exh. Cat. Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art, 1957. Mentioned: p. 19, no. 26
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 608 archive.org
    Hawley, Henry. Neo-Classicism: Style and Motif. Exh. Cat. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1964. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 117, no. 122
    Hoover, Suzanne. "Pictures at the Exhibition." Blake Newsletter 21 (1973): 6-13. Mentioned: pp. 8-9; Reproduced: fig. 3
    Mellor, Anne Kostelanetz. Blake's Human Form Divine. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1974. Mentioned: pp. 332-35; Reproduced: pl. 87
    Butlin, Martin. The Paintings and Drawings of William Blake. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1981. Mentioned: p. 351, no. 471, 484, under no. 671; Reproduced: pl. 556
    Heppner, Christopher. Reading Blake's Designs. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1995. Mentioned: p. 194
    DeGrazia, Diane, and Carter E. Foster. Master Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Exh. Cat. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2000. Mentioned: pp. 7, 188-89, no. 77; Reproduced: p. 189
    Lemonedes, Heather. British Drawings: The Cleveland Museum of Art. Exh. Cat. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2013. Mentioned: p. 11, 54-55, 143, no. 16; Reproduced: p. 17 (detail), 55
  • British Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art . The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 10-May 26, 2013).
    Master Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 27-October 17, 2000); The Morgan Library & Museum, New York, NY (May 23-August 19, 2001); Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Houston, TX (October 14, 2001-January 6, 2002).
    Rococo, Revolution, Restoration. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 11-September 24, 1989).
    Exhibition of the Works of William Blake. Burlington Fine Arts Club, London (1876).
    Neo-classicism: Style and Motif. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer).
    European Watercolors Through the 18th Century. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 14-March 22, 1964).
    Drawings. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 11-September 10, 1963).
    Aspects of Drawing. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 10-April 2, 1961).
    The Art of William Blake. National Gallery of Art, Landover, MD (organizer) (October 19-December 1, 1957).
    77th Annual Exhibition of Water-Colour Drawings. Thomas Agnew & Sons, Ltd., London (organizer).
    William Blake (1757 – 1827). Tate Gallery, London (1947).
    The Century of Art Exhibition of the International Society of Sculptors, Painters, and Gravers. Grafton Galleries, London (June - July, 1911).
    Exhibition of Works by William Blake. Carfax and Co. Ltd., London (June 14 - July 31, 1906).
  • {{cite web|title=The Holy Family (Christ in the Lap of Truth)|url=false|author=William Blake|year=c. 1805|access-date=14 May 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1950.239