The Return of the Holy Family to Nazarethc. 1627 · Study 1953.156

Context from the museum

When King Herod learned that he would lose his throne to a child born in Bethlehem, he ordered all male infants to be massacred. Mary and Joseph thus fled to Egypt to protect their son, Jesus. The age of the boy in this painting suggests that Poussin depicted the less-common subject of the Holy Family’s return from Egypt. Jesus reaches toward a vision of a cross borne by angels, a reference to both his eventual crucifixion and Herod’s cruel slaughter of innocent children.

Museum description reproduced from its CC0 open-access record. Read the original catalog entry.

A detail to notice

Nicolas Poussin used wax figures and wetted paper or fabric to model the bodies in his paintings, helping him to capture the realistic folds, movement, and balance of light and shadow.

Observation supplied by the Cleveland Museum of Art.

Read the dimensions before the image

The selected unframed measurement for The Return of the Holy Family to Nazareth is 99 cm wide and 134 cm high, equivalent to approximately 39.0 × 52.8 inches. Dividing width by height gives a format ratio of 0.74:1. The rectangular bounding area is 1.33 square meters; it describes the measured footprint, not the amount of paint or the monetary value.

On an illustrative 300 cm wall, the recorded width occupies 33.0% of the span before adding a frame. A centered placement leaves approximately 100.5 cm on each side before adding a frame. These are calculations by Physical Art For Crypto using museum measurements. They are not the museum’s display recommendations.

Questions to bring to your own collection

With The Return of the Holy Family to Nazareth in view, identify one feature you can point to, then distinguish what the museum records from your personal response. Keep its medium, oil on canvas, in your notes when comparing contemporary works.

• Which part of this vertical composition catches your eye first?
• Would a 99 cm width still suit the space after allowing for furniture and a frame?
• What surface detail would you need to see in person or in a close photograph?