# The Holy Family with Two Saints [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [MASTER of the Antwerp Adoration]() - Date: 1501-1550 - Technique: Oil on oak panel, 64 x 56 cm ## Commentary The Holy Family with Two Saints c. 1520 Oil on oak panel, 64 x 56 cm Museo de Bellas Artes, Bilbao The Virgin Mary, attired in a blue tunic and a loose-fitting carmine cloak, holds in her lap the naked Baby Jesus, who leans towards a bowl of cherries offered to him by St Catherine, who wears an elegant brocade dress and a rich headdress with precious metal coils. St Joseph, standing behind Mary, humbly takes his hat off while St Barbara, holding an open book in one hand and a peacock feather in the other, beholds the holy group. An angel with wings outspread plays the lute in front of a hybrid building that combines Late Gothic elements with Renaissance decorative features. A beautiful landscape bathed in a bluish light unfolds as a backdrop. This painting has links with the Mannerist school that flourished in Antwerp, and more specifically with a group of anonymous painters active around 1520. ## Related artworks - [Adoration of the Magi]() - [Epiphany]() - [Triptych]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()