The Holy Family and the infant John the Baptist
Original title: The Holy Family and the infant John the Baptist
kurzbeschreibung
Giulio Bonasone's engraving The Holy Family with the Infant Saint John was made between 1531 and 1576. Mary sits with the Christ Child, the young John the Baptist and Joseph within an architectural setting. The sheet measures 36 x 25.4 cm and is executed as an engraving.
Description
Mary has taken a seat on a bench, the Christ Child resting on her lap. To the left stands the young John, holding another child by the hand, while on the right Joseph engages with the infant Jesus. Arches and columns divide the rear area and set the figures within a symmetrical architectural frame. The arrangement is balanced, with the main figures gathered at the centre of the image. Diffused light emphasizes the sculptural, rounded quality of the draperies and bodies.
Context
Giulio Bonasone, a sixteenth-century Italian engraver, worked mainly in Bologna and Rome. The print belongs to the High Renaissance, an age in which reproductive printmaking played a decisive part in spreading pictorial inventions. The motif of the Holy Family with the Infant Saint John was common in sixteenth-century Italian art and often served private devotion. No closer dating within the stated period can be established with certainty.
Impact
Calm and harmonious, the print meets the viewer, thanks to finely graded linework and a balanced layout. Because there is no colour, attention turns entirely to the figures and their interaction. The architecture behind them gives the scene a solemn, elevated mood.
Technique
For this engraving the lines were cut into a metal plate and then printed. Fine hatching and contour lines produce nuanced shading and bring out the plasticity of bodies and draperies. The restriction to shades of grey is characteristic of this printing process.
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Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)