Before losing its relevance and validity towards the end of the 19th century, religious art experienced a great upswing in the first half of the century. The new trend in biblical-religious historical painting was shaped by the Nazarenes. An informal group, the Nazarenes developed around the Viennese painting students Friedrich Overbeck, Franz Pforr and Ludwig Vogel who were all based in Rome. Following some time later, Eduard von Steinle joined the trio in Rome in 1828. Essentially, the Nazarene approach involved a revival of religiously-inspired art and focused on large-scale fresco technique. Steinle subsequently learned this technique from Peter von Cornelius, who had returned to Munich to take charge of the Munich Academy. Henceforth, Steinle also devoted himself chiefly to large-scale fresco decoration and the design of stained-glass windows in religious buildings, among them the Cologne Cathedral and the Strasbourg Cathedral. High-profile projects such as these qualified him for a professorship at the Städel School of Art in Frankfurt, which he took up in 1850. Steinle also created romantic easel paintings of profane content in the historical and genre styles, such as “The Loreley” (1864, Schack Collection, Munich) and the medieval “Warden of the Tower” (1859, Schack Collection, Munich). The overwhelming majority of his paintings, however, were devoted to the central theme of the Holy Family. Largely intended for private worship or private side chapels, these works continued to reflect the principles of the Nazarenes. Their composition displays a harmonious structure, inspired by the old German masters and the spirit of grace and religious sensitivity typical of Raphael, whose Madonna paintings such as “The Canigiani Holy Family” (1508, Old Pinakothek, Munich) play an important role in terms of both motif and style. A certain charm and intimacy are also evident in the scene depicted here, with the infant Jesus shrinking back from the water that the boy John is scooping with the scallop shell, a complex symbol of Christian iconography that foretells the future baptism ceremony. The pastel-matte surface texture suggests an affinity with the fresco technique. In keeping with the Nazarene program, the figure of Mary combines the elegance and grace of the Renaissance with the angular, Dürer-like appearance of Joseph – a vivid reference to Steinle’s fundamental artistic principles. [KT]