{
"data": {
"id": 126768,
"accession_number": "1949.185",
"share_license_status": "CC0",
"tombstone": "Holy Family with a Shepherd, early 1520s. Battista Dossi (Italian, c. 1490\u20131548). Oil on canvas; unframed: 38.7 x 32 cm (15 1/4 x 12 5/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Delia E. Holden and L. E. Holden Funds, 1949.185",
"current_location": null,
"title": "Holy Family with a Shepherd",
"creation_date": "early 1520s",
"creation_date_earliest": 1520,
"creation_date_latest": 1525,
"artists_tags": [
"male"
],
"culture": [
"Italy"
],
"technique": "oil on canvas",
"support_materials": [],
"department": "European Painting and Sculpture",
"collection": "P - Italian 16th & 17th Century",
"type": "Painting",
"measurements": "Unframed: 38.7 x 32 cm (15 1/4 x 12 5/8 in.)",
"dimensions": {
"unframed": {
"height": 0.387,
"height_inch": 15,
"height_inch_fraction": 0.25,
"width": 0.32,
"width_inch": 12,
"width_inch_fraction": 0.625
}
},
"state_of_the_work": null,
"edition_of_the_work": null,
"copyright": null,
"inscriptions": [],
"exhibitions": {
"current": [
{
"id": 300859,
"title": "The Venetian Tradition",
"description": "The Venetian Tradition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (November 8, 1956-January 1, 1957).",
"opening_date": "1956-11-08T05:00:00"
},
{
"id": 304558,
"title": "When Angels Bent Near the Earth to Touch Their Harps of Gold: The Christmas Story",
"description": "When Angels Bent Near the Earth to Touch Their Harps of Gold: The Christmas Story. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 1, 1981-January 17, 1982).",
"opening_date": "1981-12-01T05:00:00"
}
],
"legacy": [
{
"description": "Fort Wayne Art Schl & Mus. 11/14/55",
"opening_date": "1955-11-14T00:00:00"
},
{
"description": "CMA, 1956: \"The Venetian Tradition,\" cat. by Henry S. Francis; cat. no. 11, pl. VII.",
"opening_date": "1956-01-01T00:00:00"
},
{
"description": "CMA, December 1, 1981-January 17, 1982: \"When Angels Bent Near the Earth To Touch Their Harps of Gold: The Christmas Story,\" no cat. (Gallery A).",
"opening_date": "1981-12-01T00:00:00"
}
]
},
"provenance": [
{
"description": "Private collection. Bologna;",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": null,
"date": null,
"sortorder": null
},
{
"description": "[Giuseppe Cellini, Rome], sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1949",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": null,
"date": null,
"sortorder": null
}
],
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"artlens_description": null,
"description": "In this image of the Holy Family, Joseph and Mary lean in to admire the Christ Child while a shepherd looks on, leaning on his staff. Before executing this painting, Battista visited Rome, including an extensive study of Raphael's works. Afterward, Battista began a second style of painting, seen in the flexible pose of Christ, the small hands of the adult figures, the high foreheads, and each figure looking sideways or upward. The landscape is impressionistic and grainy as mysterious silvery-blue moonlight accents the thickly wooded landscape. Rich reds, browns, and greens color the picturesque landscapes, typical of Battista's second style. This small painting was originally attributed to Battista Dossi's brother, Dosso. Both brothers served as court painters to the Duke Alfonso I of Ferrara. However, the symmetry and vibrant colors of the painting, as well as the facial styles of the figures, characterize the work of Battista Dossi.",
"external_resources": {
"wikidata": [
"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q60515645"
],
"internet_archive": [
"https://archive.org/details/clevelandart-1949.185-holy-family-with-a-s"
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},
"citations": [
{
"citation": "The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Catalogue of Paintings, Part 3: European Paintings of the 16th, 17th, and 18th Centuries. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1982.",
"page_number": "Reproduced: p. 341; Mentioned: p. 340",
"url": null
},
{
"citation": "Francis, Henry. \"An Oil by Dosso Dossi in the Holden Collection.\" The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 37, no. 4 (April 1950): 63-66.",
"page_number": "Reproduced: front cover; Mentioned: p. 63",
"url": "https://www.jstor.org/stable/25141626"
},
{
"citation": "Francis, Henry Sayles. Venetian Tradition: Catalogue of the Exhibition. [Cleveland, Ohio]: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1956.",
"page_number": "Mentioned: p. 22, no. 11; Reproduced: pl. VII",
"url": ""
},
{
"citation": "The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966.",
"page_number": "Reproduced: p. 84",
"url": "https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1966/page/n108"
},
{
"citation": "The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969.",
"page_number": "Reproduced: p. 84",
"url": "https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1969/page/n108"
},
{
"citation": "The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978.",
"page_number": "Reproduced: p. 97",
"url": "https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1978/page/n117"
},
{
"citation": "The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Catalogue of Paintings, Part 3: European Paintings of the 16th, 17th, and 18th Centuries. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1982.",
"page_number": "Mentioned: p. 340; Reproduced: p. 341",
"url": null
}
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"creditline": "Delia E. Holden and L. E. Holden Funds",
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"description": "Battista Dossi (Italian, c. 1490\u20131548)",
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"updated_at": "2026-08-21 12:43:14.221000"
}
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