Joos van Cleve, um 1485 – um 1540, Kreis des Lot n° 257

THE HOLY FAMILY Oil on wood. Parquet. 50 x 37 cm. In gilded frame. On a stone bench stands the infant Jesus, covered by a light velum, gently touching the chest of his mother, who just touches him with her slender fingers and offers him a flower. While her gaze is devoted to the child, his gaze catches the viewer's eye. Backed by the cloth of honor made of gold brocade, whose colorfulness is repeated in the cut citrus fruit on the stone bench, the level of meaning of Mary with the child is separated from Joseph, who is depicted here as a scholar standing behind a lectern with his gaze directed into a script or at the child, thus connecting two readings of the picture: While he looks at the child, he also already sees in the Scriptures the future of Jesus, whose salvation event is also already expressed in the pomegranate motif of the curtain, Mary's cross pendant and, of course, in the citrus fruit. Minimal rest. Note: The model for this magnificent intimate composition is a group of paintings that have come down to us from the hand of Joos van Cleve and his workshop. Above all, the painting in the National Gallery in London (Inv. No. 2603), which is only a shade smaller than the painting offered here, but has the unique foreshortened hand of Mariea, which is also missing in all known replicas. Literature: See John Oliver Hand, Joos van Cleve. The early and mature paintings, Princeton University 1978, pp.159-299, no. 33, fig. 41. Cf. Ludwig Baldass, Joos van Cleve. Der Meister des Todes Maria, Vienna 1925, p. 21, no. 32, fig. 35. (1300931) (13) Joos van Cleve, ca. 1485 - ca. 1540, circle of THE HOLY FAMILY Oil on panel. Parquetted. 50 x 37 cm. In gilt frame. Notes: The model for this wonderfully intimate composition is a group of paintings that have survived by Joos van Cleve and his workshop. The painting held at the National Gallery in London (inv. no. 2603), which is only a little smaller than the painting on offer for sale here, has the unique foreshortened hand of the Virgin, which is however already missing from all known copies. Literature: cf. John Oliver Hand, Joos van Cleve. The early and mature paintings, Princeton University 1978, p. 159-299, no. 33, ill. 41. cf. Ludwig Baldass, Joos van Cleve. Der Meister des Todes Maria, Vienna 1925, p. 21, no. 32, ill. 35.