The Holy Family at a Meal

Adriaen Isenbrandt painted this Holy Family around 1525, depicting the intimate domestic grouping of the Virgin, Christ Child, and Saint Joseph that gained popularity as devotional emphasis shifted toward the humanity of Christ. The painting is in the Bristol City Museum & Art Gallery Adriaen Isenbrandt worked in Bruges following Gerard David's style, producing refined devotional panels for the prosperous merchant market Egg tempera on panel was the dominant technique of the period, demanding c

The devotional composition is rendered with attention to the expressive and contemplative qualities that served the painting's function as an aid to prayer and meditation.