Holy Family with a Shepherd

Holy Family with a Shepherd is a c.1510 painting by Titian, now in the National Gallery, London. It has also previously been attributed to Paris Bordone. It has previously been dated to around 1516 due to its colouring's similarities to the Balbi Holy Conversation of c.1516 . The c.1510 date, based on the similarity of its figure of Saint Joseph to that of St. Mark Enthroned, is now more widely accepted. It shows Titian still under the influences of Giorgione and Giovanni Bellini, which also favours the c.1510 dating.

The work is first recorded in the collection of the Palazzo Borghese in Rome in 1693 and remained there throughout the 19th century. It was probably seen there by Antony van Dyck, who produced a drawing copying it. After passing through other private collections, it was bequeathed to the National Gallery by William Holwell Carr in 1831.

Bibliography

• Francesco Valcanover, L'opera completa di Tiziano, Rizzoli, Milano 1969.