The Holy Family with Saint John the Baptist and Saint Margaret (c. 1488–93): Art, History and Details

The Holy Family with Saint John the Baptist and Saint Margaret (c. 1488–93) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Filippino Lippi (Italian, c. 1457–1504).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This monumental tondo, among Filippino’s most significant works, was commissioned by Neapolitan cardinal Oliviero Carafa, a leading political and ecclesiastical figure. The painter’s ingenious composition harmoniously overlaps five brilliantly colored divine figures within the challenging circular format. Behind a low wall adorned with sacred and domestic objects, Joseph observes the intertwined group of Mary holding Christ, who embraces his cousin John the Baptist, supported by Saint Margaret. Created during Filippino’s Roman years (1488–93), the painting reflects the inspiration he drew from ancient art. The preparatory drawing reveals how he reimagined Greco-Roman figures—his sketch of an antique Venus statue was refashioned into Saint Margaret—while the weathered pier references remnants of ancient architectural and decorative motifs, illustrating Filippino’s deep engagement with the fragments of antique murals, sculpture, and architecture throughout the city.

Object facts

• Title: The Holy Family with Saint John the Baptist and Saint Margaret
• Date: c. 1488–93
• Creator attribution: Filippino Lippi (Italian, c. 1457–1504)
• Culture: Italy
• Type: Painting
• Technique: tempera and oil on wood
• Dimensions: Framed: 184 x 186 x 9.5 cm (72 7/16 x 73 1/4 x 3 3/4 in.); Diameter: 153 cm (60 1/4 in.)
• Collection: MED - Renaissance
• Department: Medieval Art
• Accession number: 1932.227

A detail from the museum

Ultramarine, the blue pigment used lavishly across this tondo (circular painting), was many times more expensive than gold in the Renaissance.

Collection credit

The Delia E. Holden Fund and a fund donated as a memorial to Mrs. Holden by her children: Guerdon S. Holden, Delia Holden White, Roberta Holden Bole, Emery Holden Greenough, Gertrude Holden McGinley

Further reading listed by the museum

• Celano, Carlo. Notizie del bello dell'antico e del curioso della città di Napoli: divise dall'autore in 10 giornate per guida e comodo de'viaggiatori ; con aggiunzioni de'piu' notabili miglioramenti posteriori fino al presente estratti dalla storia de' monumenti e dalle memorie di eruditi scrittori Napolitani. 3 3. Napoli: Chiurazzi, 1858.
• Crowe, J. A., and G. B. Cavalcaselle. A New History of Painting in Italy, From the Second to the Sixteenth Century. London: J. Murray, 1864.
• John Murray (Firm). A Handbook for Travellers in Southern Italy: Being a Guide for the Provinces Formerly Constituting the Continental Portion of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. London: J. Murray, 1868.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.