CRESPI, GIUSEPPE MARIA, called SPAGNOLO
THE HOLY FAMILY
This work forms a pair with the canvas The Death of Joseph in the Hermitage collection.
Both works were painted c 1712 as a commission for the Papal Legate and the prominent Roman collector Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni (1667-1740). The Moscow canvas enjoyed considerable fame and was reproduced on several occasions by the artist himself and his workshop. A preliminary drawing, executed with precision and almost identical to the painted variant in its details, is held in a private collection.
Provenance: acquired for the Hermitage from the collection of Count H. von Brühl (Dresden) in 1768; in the Pushkin Museum since 1930.