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The Virgin and Child with St Elizabeth and the Infant Baptist

Peter Paul Rubens, c1635

This painting explores the love's interdependence; the Virgin suckles the infant Christ, who sits on her left knee, as she converses with St Elizabeth, on the left.

St John, supported by his mother's right hand, caresses Christ's right foot, and lays his right hand on a lamb. Behind the group linked by a seamless chain of actions, an arcade reveals a landscape with trees. Joseph, originally included behind the pillar at the upper right, has been removed and painted over, probably for compositional reasons. During the last decade of its career, Rubens turned to the theme of the Holy Family on several occasions to portray the warmth and tenderness of human love.

More information

Title of artwork, date

The Virgin and Child with St Elizabeth and the Infant Baptist, c1635

Date supported

1960

Medium and material

Oil on canvas

Dimensions

180 x 139.5 cm

Grant

1000

Total cost

50,000

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