The Holy Family with the Infant Saint John the Baptist at Rest in a Garland of Flowers Painters Active in Rome

The scene at the centre of the garland of flowers is a copy after a work originally produced by Simon Vouet in Rome in 1626, and acquired by Cardinal Francesco Barberini soon after its execution. The circular picture (tondo) proved so popular that it was widely copied by local and foreign masters, and many variations on the work are known. The practice of surrounding biblical scenes or portraits with a garland of flowers was immensely fashionable both in Italy and in Flanders from the early seventeenth century onwards. Works of this kind were usually the result of collaboration between more artists. Here, the painter of the composition of the Holy Family faithfully followed every detail of the original, while the profusion of flowers may have been the work of a Northern, probably Flemish master. The opulently coloured blooms – roses, anemones and carnations – amplify the spiritual meaning of the scene, which foreshadows the story of Christ’s Passion.