The Holy Family with Saint Elizabeth and the infant Saint John the Baptist, holding a goldfinch on a string (ca. 1600–59)
Original title: The Holy Family with Saint Elizabeth and the infant Saint John the Baptist, holding a goldfinch on a string
kurzbeschreibung
Schelte Adams à Bolswert produced this engraving sometime between 1600 and 1659. It depicts the Holy Family with Saint Elizabeth and the infant John the Baptist. The print is a black-and-white impression from the first of two states. Mary with the Christ Child, who holds a goldfinch on a string, forms the focal point.
Description
The arrangement is symmetrical: Mary stands at the center with the naked Christ Child, who leads a goldfinch on a string. To her right is the bearded Joseph, pointing at the child; to her left, the older Elizabeth in a headscarf watches the scene. On her lap sits the young John the Baptist, also looking toward the child. A landscape with trees and an arch is suggested behind them. The figures wear traditional garments, and the engraving's gray tones show even lighting without strong contrasts.
Context
Schelte Adams à Bolswert was a seventeenth-century Dutch engraver, best known for his reproductive prints after works by Peter Paul Rubens. The Holy Family with the Goldfinch alludes to the Passion of Christ, since the bird in Christian iconography symbolizes the Crucifixion. The motif was widespread in the Catholic art of Flanders and served private devotion. The engraving was made at a time when printmaking played a key role in spreading religious images.
Impact
The engraving feels remarkably balanced thanks to its clear linework and the calm, symmetrical placement of the figures. Delicate hatching gives the garments and faces a sculptural depth without overcrowding the image. The scene radiates an intimate, familial atmosphere, which the child's playful handling of the bird lends a light, almost everyday note.
Technique
This is an engraving, a technique in which the design is cut into a copper plate with a burin. The fine lines and parallel hatching create the tonal values and textures essential for rendering fabrics and skin. The impression belongs to the first state and has been trimmed to a sheet measuring 39.8 × 30.4 cm.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)