Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Holy Family with the Infant Saint John the Baptist
Sodoma (Giovanni Antonio Bazzi) Italian
Not on view
Sodoma painted this powerful, recently rediscovered Holy Family during his later years in Siena, when he strove to create compositions that were at once sculptural and atmospheric. We do not know why the peripheral figures were left incomplete, but it is likely that a collector appreciated the work in its current state, drawn to the gentle features of the Virgin and the vast panoramic landscape. Later the painting was part of one of the most important collections in Spain.
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