Holy Family under an Oak Tree
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e8/Raphael_-_Holy_Family_below_the_Oak.jpg/350px-Raphael_-_Holy_Family_below_the_Oak.jpg)
Holy Family under an Oak Tree or Madonna of the Oak Tree is an oil on panel painting by Giulio Romano using a composition or underdrawing by Raphael. It is now in the Prado in Madrid. It is dated to c.1518 by its stylistic similarities to other works produced by the two artists around that time such as La Perla (Prado). In the background is a valley reminiscent of that of the River Tiber, with a ruin on a hill to the left based on the Basilica of Maxentius or the Baths of Caracalla.
Its popularity is demonstrated by the large number of surviving copies, for example in Pesaro, Bologna, the Hermitage Museum, the Royal Collection at Hampton Court Palace and the Hague[1]. Another at the Galleria Palatina in Florence is known as Madonna of the Lizard (Madonna della Lucertola) after the addition of a lizard on the column fragment in the right foreground and is attributed to Girolamo Siciolante da Sermoneta[2][3].
References
- ^ (in Italian) Pierluigi De Vecchi, Raffaello, Rizzoli, Milano 1975, p 118.
- ^ (in Italian) Paolo Franzese, Raffaello, Mondadori Arte, Milano 2008. ISBN 978-88-370-6437-2, p.130
- ^ "Catalogue entry".