The Holy Family Under a Tree

Sebald Beham

National Gallery of Art

This print shows a partial view of two adults and a child near a tall tree. In the center, a woman sits or leans against the trunk of the tree, holding a child in her arms. She wears long clothing that drapes in thick folds and fills most of the bottom of the print, obscuring her body. Her long, curling hair cascades down her shoulders below the cloth that covers her head and neck. Her face is in profile as she looks to the right at the man next to her. The man stands beside the tree on the right, and we see him from the waist up, behind the woman's long skirts. The man has a beard and curling hair and is clothed in a draped garment that is open in the center to reveal his bare chest. His right hand is bent above his head with the middle two fingers extended downward, while his left hand rests on the top of a bottle that sits on an unseen surface. The child in the woman's arms is naked, and lays horizontally in her arms, holding a round object that may be an apple. All three of the people have light skin and light hair. Behind them is the tall tree, with twisted branches and flat leaves extending from it. The sky behind is blank, and the background of the print is beige paper.