ABRAHAM BLOEMAERT | THE HOLY FAMILY WITH ELISABETH

Sale, Amsterdam, Christie's, 26 November 1984, lot 19

J. Bolten, Abraham Bloemaert c.1565-1651, The Drawings, 2 vols, Leiden 2007, vol. I, p. 98, no. 242, reproduced vol. II, p. 122, fig. 242

As discussed by Bolten (see Literature) the Holy Family, understood in the strict sense or also together with other members of the Holy kinship, was drawn by Bloemaert on several occasions during the course of his career. Some of these, such as the present work, are small, finished drawings that must have found their way into the hands of private buyers, as devotional images.

Bolten dates this drawing to circa 1645-50, noting the lasting formal influence that Goltzius' engraving of 1589, after Spranger, of the The Holy Family¹ had on Bloemaert's treatment of the theme.

1. W.L. Strauss, Hendrick Goltzius. The complete Engravings and Woodscuts, 2 Vols, New York 1977, pp. 494-495, no. 281, reproduced