The
Holy Family with the Infant Saint John the Baptist
by Giorgio Vasari
1566
40 x 29 cm
The intense, bright colors and exaggerations in
scale of this asymmetrical composition demonstrate Giorgio Vasari's close affiliation
with the Mannerist style of painting.
The Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph are shown as caring
parents of the Christ Child, who holds a goldfinch in his left hand. The bird
is seen as a foreshadowing of the Crucifixion, as is the inscription on the banderole,
Ecce Agnus Dei.
Saint John the Baptist is clothed in the animal
furs that foretell his preaching in the wilderness.
In addition to his successful work as a painter,
Giorgio Vasari achieved fame as the author of Vite
de' pił eccellenti architetti, pittori, et scultori italiani, da Cimabue insino
a' tempi nostri
(1568), an important history of Italian Renaissance artists.
^top^