FLEMISH SCHOOL. oooooooooo RUBENS. .......... PRIVATE COLLECTION. HOLY FAMILY. Can we look upon this composition as a holy family? Or must we intitle it: the Virgin with the Infant Jesus and saint Joseph ? Such a question is not only undecided, but, I think, cannot be easily resolved. When a picture includes but two figures, the Virgin and her divine infant, no doubt but these two holy personages must not be considered as forming a holy family; but then how many figures is it necessary that a composition should hold to deserve such a denomination? Is saint Elisabeth with little saint John, or at least one of them, to be represented therein? Rubens in this picture has given us a perfect imitation of nature; the peace able sleep of childhood, the tender care of a mother trying to lay down her infant in its cradle without awaking it, the attention saint Joseph pays to that scene, every thing is expressed with a high sense of perfection. The original picture is in England at lord Clive's; it has been engraved by Raphael Morghen. |