Holy Family with Angels
Piero di Cosimo·1520
Historical Context
Piero di Cosimo's Holy Family with Angels presents the Florentine eccentric's characteristically inventive approach to a standard devotional subject. Piero di Cosimo was one of the most independent minds in Florentine Renaissance painting, known for his mythological inventions and his unconventional domestic life. Even in conventional devotional subjects like the Holy Family, his imagination found unusual approaches to figure arrangement and his landscapes display the meticulous observation of plants and atmospheric effects that distinguish his naturalistic backgrounds. The attending angels give the domestic scene a celestial dimension appropriate to private devotional use.
Technical Analysis
The Holy Family composition displays Piero di Cosimo's distinctive approach, combining devotional content with characteristic attention to natural detail and a slightly unsettling atmospheric quality.
