Sacra Famiglia Con I Santi Elisabetta E Giovanni Battista 

Pompeo Batoni painted this oil on canvas, “Sacra Famiglia Con I Santi Elisabetta E Giovanni Battista,” in the 18th century. Batoni was Italian, and the composition draws on a long tradition of religious painting in Italy, where the Catholic Church was a dominant cultural institution. The visual codes of the image would have been very familiar to viewers at the time. We see Mary, Joseph, Elizabeth, and John the Baptist gathered with the infant Jesus, with angels above. This is the Holy Family, an idealized image of domestic life and piety that reflects the values of its time. But Batoni injects this with the sensibility of the Enlightenment by rendering his figures with an emphasis on naturalism. Art historians often consult religious texts to understand the importance of the holy family as a motif. They also examine the patronage system that connects artistic production with the Church. By understanding the historical context, we can appreciate how Batoni's painting both upholds and subtly challenges the social structures of its time.