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The theme of the Holy Family became popular in early sixteenth-century Flemish painting, particularly in Antwerp and most notably with Joos van Cleve and his workshop there. Unlike Joos, who placed his Holy Family in a modest domestic interior or before a parapet with Joseph reading devotional texts, Gossart envisaged Joseph, Mary, and the Christ Child at the edge of an enclosed palace courtyard where angels and elegant ladies intermingle. The architecture shows Gossart's customary mix of Gothic and Renaissance styles with sacred and profane motifs.
Formerly the painting was attributed to Bernaert van Orley.
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