iGetty Center · Brentwood
The Holy Family at Home
Northern European paintings and illuminated manuscripts c. 1500 show the Holy Family as a loving trio in a domestic interior, centred on Getty's newly acquired Gerard David.
Joseph stands at the table with a spoon and a lidded wooden bowl, keeping the child's milk porridge warm. Two rotting apples sit on the lid; the infant Jesus holds a perfect one. Gerard David painted it around 1520, and the Getty bought it in 2023.
Around it hang manuscripts and panels from 1400 to 1530 built on the same idea: Joseph as a working father, not a bystander. In a French Book of Hours he cooks by the fire while Mary nurses, and in a Flight into Egypt he carries the baby. It took a French theologian, Jean Gerson, to argue for a Joseph who handles lunch.
The Huntington and San Francisco lend Virgin and Child panels by Rogier van der Weyden and Dieric Bouts. The David is 41 by 33 cm, so you stand close enough to spot the tiny swan on the pond outside. Entry is free with a timed reservation; parking is paid. It's in the West Pavilion, Plaza Level, and Saturdays run to 9pm.
Look for
Gerard David, The Holy Family, about 1520
Look for Joseph's spoon and lidded porridge bowl topped with two decaying apples, the Child's unblemished apple, and the tiny swan on the pond through the window.
Quentin Metsys, Madonna of the Cherries
The baby wraps both arms round Mary's neck to kiss her as she holds up a stem of cherries; it sold as a studio copy in 2015 before cleaning revealed Metsys's own hand.
The Flight into Egypt, Crohin-La Fontaine Hours
Joseph, not Mary, cradles the baby as the family walks beside their donkey, reversing how the scene was usually painted.
Rogier van der Weyden, Virgin and Child
Lent by the Huntington: a wriggling infant Jesus, held by his mother, tries to open the clasp of a book of scripture.
Dieric Bouts, Virgin and Child
Lent from San Francisco: a chubby baby looks eagerly to his mother for a response while she stays sombre.
Good for
- Cheap Culture
- Evening Visits
- Nerding Out
Skip if
You want big canvases: the David is 41 by 33 cm and much of the rest is manuscript pages.
Also at Getty Center
On now nearby
Image credits
5
- The Holy Family at HomeCourtesy of Getty Center
- Maker-in-Residence featuring Jackie AmezquitaPhoto courtesy of Craft Contemporary, Los Angeles. Exhibition Installation Image: Marc Walker.
- tierraPhoto courtesy of Craft Contemporary, Los Angeles. Exhibition Installation Image: Marc Walker.
- Earthen Comforts: Airing EarthCourtesy of Craft Contemporary
- Getty CenterCarol M. Highsmith / Wikimedia Commons, Public domain