The Heavenly and Earthly Trinities explained

Artist:Bartolomé Esteban Murillo
Medium:Oil on canvas
Height Metric:293
Width Metric:207
Museum:National Gallery
City:London
Accession:NG13

The Heavenly and Earthly Trinities (also known as The Two Trinities or The Pedroso Holy Family) is an oil painting on canvas of by the Spanish artist Bartolomé Esteban Murillo in the National Gallery, London. It depicts a young Jesus with the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph (the three of whom make up the Holy Family, the earthly trinity of the painting's title), together with God the Father and the Holy Spirit (who with Christ as God the Son form the Holy Trinity). The subject, inspired by the Finding in the Temple, is rare, though it does appear elsewhere in Spanish and Flemish art.[1]

Provenance

The work first appears in the written record in a mention by Antonio Palomino, Murillo's main biographer, who saw it in Cadiz in 1708 in the art collection of Carlos Francisco Colarte, . It was still in the Pedroso family collection early in the 19th century and was acquired in Seville by James Campbell for the British art dealer William Buchanan; it arrived in Britain in January 1810.[2] It was then acquired by Thomas Bulkeley Bulkeley-Owen, before being bought by its present owner with Peter Paul Rubens's Brazen Serpent in 1837.[3] [4]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Artehistoria entry. https://web.archive.org/web/20120206054355/http://www.artehistoria.jcyl.es/artesp/obras/10642.htm. 2012-02-06.
  2. Web site: Biography – William Buchanan. British Museum.
  3. Web site: The Heavenly and Earthly Trinities. National Gallery.
  4. Web site: Bernard Burke. A genealogical and heraldic history of the landed gentry of Great Britain & Ireland (Volume 2), p135.