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Original fileHoly Family with Saint Elizabeth and the infant St. John
Holy Family with Saint Elizabeth and the infant St. John title QS:P1476,en:"Holy Family with Saint Elizabeth and the infant St. John "label QS:Len,"Holy Family with Saint Elizabeth and the infant St. John "label QS:Ltr,"Kutsal Aile ve Azize Elisabetta"label QS:Lfr,"La Petite Sainte Famille"label QS:Larz,"العائله المقدسه مع القديسه اليصابات والرضيع القديس يوحنا"label QS:Luk,"Мале святе сімейство"label QS:Lnl,"Holy Family with Saint Elizabeth and the infant St. John"label QS:Lit,"Piccola Sacra Famiglia"label QS:Lmk,"Мало свето семејство"label QS:Lml,"സ്മാൾ ഹോളി ഫാമിലി"label QS:Lhy,"Փոքր սուրբ ընտանիք"label QS:Lru,"Малое святое семейство"
About This Work
The infant Christ steps out of a simple wooden cradle to embrace his cousin, John the Baptist, who is held by an elderly Saint Elizabeth. The Virgin Mary supports the Christ Child while looking down with a peaceful expression. Behind the group, a dense grove of trees opens up to a vista of blue mountains and a pale sky.
This work exemplifies the High Renaissance synthesis of Christian devotion and Neoplatonic aesthetics, where physical beauty and harmonious proportions are used to represent divine perfection. The arrangement of figures reflects the 'harmony of opposites' central to the intellectual circles of the Roman Curia during Raphael's time.