The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 18, 2024

The Return of the Holy Family to Nazareth

The Return of the Holy Family to Nazareth

c. 1627
(French, 1594–1665)
France, 17th century
oil on canvas
Framed: 159.5 x 124 x 14.5 cm (62 13/16 x 48 13/16 x 5 11/16 in.); Unframed: 134 x 99 cm (52 3/4 x 39 in.)
Gift of the Hanna Fund 1953.156
Location: 212 Baroque Painting and Sculpture

Description

When King Herod learned that he would lose his throne to a child born in Bethlehem, he ordered all male infants to be massacred. Mary and Joseph thus fled to Egypt to protect their son, Jesus. The age of the boy in this painting suggests that Poussin depicted the less-common subject of the Holy Family’s return from Egypt. Jesus reaches toward a vision of a cross borne by angels, a reference to both his eventual crucifixion and Herod’s cruel slaughter of innocent children.
  • 1953-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio
    1953
    (Rosenberg and Stiebel, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1952-1953
    Frederick Mont and Newhouse Galleries, New York, NY, sold to Rosenberg and Stiebel)1
    By 1733-1952
    Princes of Liechtenstein, Vienna, and later, Vaduz1
    Provenance Footnotes
    1 1Mont was chosen by the Prince of Liechtenstein as sole agent for the sale of works from his collection. 
    2 1The Liechtenstein seal in the lower right hand corner of the painting bears the date 1733 – the year the painting was first recorded in the Liechtenstein collection. 
  • Gerald Stiebel, email to Victoria Sears Goldman, Sept. 19, 2013, in CMA curatorial file.
    Gerald Stiebel, email to Victoria Sears Goldman, June 26, 2013, in CMA curatorial file.
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    Gerald Stiebel, email to Victoria Sears Goldman, Sept. 19, 2013, in CMA curatorial file.
    Gerald Stiebel, email to Victoria Sears Goldman, June 26, 2013, in CMA curatorial file
    Gerald Stiebel, email to Victoria Sears Goldman, Sept. 19, 2013, in CMA curatorial file.


    Gerald Stiebel, email to Victoria Sears Goldman, June 26, 2013, in CMA curatorial file.

    Dr. Reinhold Baumstark, letter to Ann Tzeutschler Lurie, Nov. 28, 1977, in CMA curatorial file.


    Thuillier, Jacques. L'opera completa di Poussin. Milano: Rizzoli, 1974.
    Wright, Christopher. Poussin, Paintings: A Catalogue Raisonné. New York: Hippocrene Books, 1985.
    Falke, J. Katalog der Fürstlich Liechtensteinischen Bildergallerie im Gartenpalais der Rossau zu Wien. Wien: Miethke & Wawra, 1873.
    Descrizzione completa di tutto cio che ritrovasi nella galleria di pittura e scultura di sua altezza Giuseppe Wenceslao ... principe regnante della casa di Lichtenstein. 1767.
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 478 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 116 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Catalogue of Paintings, Part 3: European Paintings of the 16th, 17th, and 18th Centuries. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1982. Mentioned: p. 121-124; Reproduced: p. 122
    Albl, Stefan, and Pietro Testa. Pietro Testa: Maler in Rom und Lucca (1612-1650). 2021. Mentioned: p. 253
    Provenance Footnotes
    1 1Mont was chosen by the Prince of Liechtenstein as sole agent for the sale of works from his collection. 
    2 1The Liechtenstein seal in the lower right hand corner of the painting bears the date 1733 – the year the painting was first recorded in the Liechtenstein collection. 
  • Object Lessons: France in the Golden Age. Timken Museum of Art, San Diego, CA (organizer) (February 14-June 3, 2012).
    The Triumph of French Painting: Seventeenth Century Masterpieces from the Museums of FRAME [FRAME]. Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR (organizer) (October 11, 2003-January 4, 2004); Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, AL (January 25-April 11, 2004); Meadows Museum (April 30-July 25, 2004).
    Portland Art Museum, OR (10/11/2003 - 1/4/2004), Birmingham Museum of Art (1/25/2004 - 4/11/2004) and Meadows Museum, Southern Methodist University, Dallas (5/2/2004 - 7/25/2004): "The Triumph of French Painting: 17th Century Masterpieces from the Museums of FRAME", p. 94-95.
    The First Roman Years of Nicolas Poussin. Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome (November 26, 1998-March 1, 1999).
    Rome, Italy; Comune di Roma-Palazzo delle Esposizioni, 11/26/98 - 3/1/99 "The first Roman Years of Nicolas Poussin" (I primi anni romani.) Exhibition catalog no. 15, p. 66.
    Poussin. Dulwich Picture Gallery (organizer) (February 16-April 30, 1995).
    Fort Worth, Texas, Kimbell Art Museum, September 24-November 27, 1988: Poussin. The Early Years in Rome,"
    The Arts of Man. The Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX (organizer) (October 4-November 15, 1962).
    Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, October 4-November 15, 1962: "The Arts of Man," cat. no. 58, repr. p. 49.
    Paris 1960, no. 52.
    Toledo (Ohio) Museum of Art January 4-February 2, 1959: "Paintings and Drawings by Nicolas Poussin in American Museums," cat. p. 26, repr. fig. 14 (color) Minneapolis Isnitute of Art, February 11-March 10, 1959.
    In Memoriam: Leonard C. Hanna, Jr.. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 4-April 7, 1958).
    The Venetian Tradition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (November 8, 1956-January 1, 1957).
    CMA, 1956: "The Venetian Tradition," cat. no. 30, repr. (Catalogue by Henry S Francis).
    The Art Institute of Chicago, July 15-August 31, 1954: "Masterpieces of Religious Painting in collaboration with the World Council of Churches," cat. no. 33, repr. p. 32.
    Provenance Footnotes
    1 1Mont was chosen by the Prince of Liechtenstein as sole agent for the sale of works from his collection. 
    2 1The Liechtenstein seal in the lower right hand corner of the painting bears the date 1733 – the year the painting was first recorded in the Liechtenstein collection. 
  • {{cite web|title=The Return of the Holy Family to Nazareth|url=false|author=Nicolas Poussin|year=c. 1627|access-date=18 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
    Provenance Footnotes
    1 1Mont was chosen by the Prince of Liechtenstein as sole agent for the sale of works from his collection. 
    2 1The Liechtenstein seal in the lower right hand corner of the painting bears the date 1733 – the year the painting was first recorded in the Liechtenstein collection. 

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1953.156