PROVENANCE: Adolf Hommel, Vienna, 1906; Pisco Collection, Vienna, 1909; Fröhlich Collection, Vienna; Julius Weitzner, London, 1963; BJU, 1963.

Joachim Bueckelaer received his training from his uncle, Pieter Aertsen, who originated a type of genre painting with peasants or biblical characters set amidst a kitchen or market scene. He followed Aertsen closely in developing this genre in the Netherlands, providing a precursory inspiration for later Dutch still-life painters. Though his work influenced such northern Italians as Bartolomeo Passarotti and Annibale Carracci, Bueckelaer had no immediate followers in the Netherlands. This lack, along with his relatively small existing oeuvre, may in part derive from his short career: he died at the age of 40.

The Holy Family represents one of Bueckelaer's supreme achievements in this genre that brought him posthumous fame. The large-scale figures of Joseph and Mary are placed in the immediate foreground, giving a monumentality and nobility to the peasant-looking characters. However, the artist also gives a generous amount of attention to the still-life elements that support and frame the event. The work is particularly interesting for two reasons: first, the way the artist focuses in on the figures instead of giving his usual bird's-eye view of an interior and secondly, the rare infusion of sentiment into the gentle facial expressions of the parents.