Beschreibung:

AFTER POUSSIN (17TH CENTURY) HOLY FAMILY WITH ST ELIZABETH AND ST JOHN THE BAPTIST Oil on canvas 49 x 64cm (19¼ x 25 in.) After the original painted held at The Hermitage. St Petersburg. Provenance: Sir Osbert Sitwell at 2 Carlyle Square, London Thence by descent at Weston Hall Catalogue Note: This oil on canvas after Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665) is derived from an original oil painting by Poussin held in the Hermitage (The Winter Palace), St. Petersburg, entitled 'Holy Family with St Elizabeth and St John the Baptist', circa 1649-53 (inventory no. ГЭ-1213). The original is significantly larger than the present at 174 x 134сm. The 'Holy Family' in the Hermitage, which Poussin painted towards the end of his life was inspired by Raphael and his depictions of the holy family, including the 'Holy Family of Francis I', probably the first Raphael painting the French artist ever saw. The Hermitage painting was originally in the collection of Sir Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford (1676-1745), generally regarded as the de facto first prime minister of Great Britain, at Houghton Hall, Norfolk. It formed part of the art collection - 206 works in total including works by Van Dyck, Poussin, Rubens, and Rembrandt - sold by George Walpole, 3rd Earl (1730-91) in 1779 to the Empress of Russia, Catherine the Great (1729-96) for £40,550. There are at least three further pen and ink sketches by Poussin of this subject at the Hermitage (ОР-5142, OP-5151, OP-5131), probably preparatory drawings for the oil painting.