Madonna and Child (ca. 1512–16)
Original title: Madonna and Child
kurzbeschreibung
Unlike many devotional images of its day, this engraving by Marcantonio Raimondi, made around 1512–16, sets the seated Madonna with the Christ Child on her lap within a strictly symmetrical arrangement of clouds and a circular zone of light. That clear framing gives the sheet much of its distinctive force.
Description
The Madonna sits enthroned at the center, the child resting on her lap. A radiant, perfectly round background gathers both figures into one unit. The Christ Child appears barefoot in a simple garment; his mother wears a long skirt and a veil that partly covers her face. Along the lower edge clouds touch the ground, lifting the scene into the heavenly realm. The layout is symmetrical and firmly centered, with fine hatching giving the bodies their plastic modeling.
Context
Raimondi, an Italian engraver of the High Renaissance, became known above all for his reproductive prints after Raphael. This sheet belongs to his Roman years, when he worked closely with Raphael. In subject it follows the widespread Renaissance type of the devotional image. Prints such as this did much to make Italian art known north of the Alps.
Impact
A calm, prayerful mood emanates from the print, carried by the symmetrical ordering and soft transitions of light. Precise lines and the sculptural fullness of the figures lend it a monumental dignity characteristic of the High Renaissance.
Technique
For an engraving, the lines are cut into a copper plate with a burin. Hatching of varying density and fineness produces shading and gradations of tone from light to dark. The method allows great precision of detail, and Raimondi commanded it with virtuoso skill.
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Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)