Holy Family with the Infant Baptist and St Elizabeth

An engraving after a painting by Sassoferrato when in the collection of Lucien Bonaparte, Rome. Published in ‘Choix de gravures à l'eau forte, d'après les peintures originales et les marbres de la galerie de Lucien Bonaparte’, London 1812, pl. 33.

The painting - which is a copy of Raphael's so-called ‘Canigiani Holy Family’ (c.1506-07; see RCIN 850756 for a photograph of it) - appeared on the market in 1974 (Christies’s, London, 1 August 1974, lot 102). A drawing by Sassoferrato of this subject is housed in the Royal Library, Windsor Castle (RCIN 906080).

Showing the Virgin supporting the Christ Child on her knees, who leans forward to the Infant Baptist resting on St Elizabeth’s lap, with St Joseph standing behind them and supporting himself with a stick.