North Carolina Museum of Art

One of Jordaens' finest early narrative compositions, the artist portrays the Holy Family as robust, modestly dressed people in a humble setting. Mary has no halo, although her coiled braid may suggest one, just as her high-backed wicker chair recalls the throne upon which she often sits in other artist's portrayals. The infant Jesus, wrapped in swaddling clothes, wears a garland of flowers in lieu of a halo. Greeting the mother and child are their kinspeople, the young John the Baptist and his parents, E lizabeth and Zacharias. A goldfinch tethered to its wicker cage appears at the center of the composition. It may symbolize the human soul set free by God, as well as the soul's yearning for Christ.