Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00009159About the Artwork
One of the most celebrated academic painters of his time, Bouguereau underscores the moral virtues of the Italian peasants in this painting by depicting the dome of St. Peter's in the distance. The idealized figures and their triangular grouping recall the Holy Family paintings by Renaissance master Raphael 400 years earlier. The painting was purchased directly from the artist by Cleveland banker and philanthropist Hinman B. Hurlbut in July 1879.
Inscriptions
Signed lower left: W. Bouguereau 1879
Exhibition history
William-Adolphe Bouguereau. The New York Cultural Center, New York, NY (organizer) (December 13, 1974-January 26, 1975). Object Lessons: Cleveland Creates an Art Museum. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 7-September 8, 1991). Bouguereau & America. Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, WI (February 14-May 12, 2019); Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis, TN (organizer) (June 22-September 22, 2019).
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Quick Overview
- Artist
- William Adolphe Bouguereau (French, 1825–1905)
- Date
- 1879
- Medium
- oil on fabric
- Dimensions
- Framed: 204 x 156 x 15 cm (80 5/16 x 61 7/16 x 5 7/8 in.); Unframed: 164.5 x 117.8 cm (64 3/4 x 46 3/8 in.)
- Type
- Painting
- Classification
- Painting
- Department
- Modern European Painting and Sculpture
- Credit line
- Hinman B. Hurlbut Collection
- Accession no.
- 1915.722
More by William Adolphe Bouguereau in museum collections
Open-access museum record · AT-00009159
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