The Holy Family With a Palm Tree

Raphael painted this Holy Family With a Palm Tree around 1506, now at the National Galleries of Scotland in Edinburgh, one of the accomplished tondo or circular compositions in which he was beginning to specialize during his Florentine years. The circular format was a Florentine specialty since Botticelli and Lippi, and Raphael employed it for the intimate Holy Family subjects he was developing in these years. The palm tree was a symbol of the Flight into Egypt and of Mary's virtue. By 1506 Raphael had fully absorbed the lessons of Leonardo's Madonna compositions — the pyramidal figure grouping, the soft sfumato atmosphere — and was creating his own synthesis. Edinburgh's possession of this work reflects the Scottish collection's distinguished history of acquisition.

Oil on panel with Raphael's characteristic balance of form, luminous coloring, and compositional harmony. The work demonstrates the artistic qualities characteristic of Raphael's mature period.