Mary seated beneath trees with baby, flanked by Joseph at left and St. Jerome at right; St. John the Baptist seated in the foreground holding a cross; a man stooping to pick up a child at left; a lion seen from behind at right; a town in the background

Art Historical Context

Domenico Campagnola's 1517 woodcut, housed in the Metropolitan Museum of's Drawings and Prints department, captures a tender yet expansive Renaissance vision of the Holy Family. At center, the Virgin Mary sits beneath shady trees cradling the infant, flanked by the gentle St. Joseph on the left scholarly St. Jerome on the—Jerome often depicted with a lion, which appears mysteriously from behind at far right. In the foreground, young St. John the Baptist a cross, symbolizing his prophetic role, while a humble man stoops to lift a child at left, evoking everyday devotion. A distant town anchors ...

About the Artist

Domenico Campagnola · 1500–1564

Domenico Campagnola (c. 1500–1564), a Venetian Renaissance painter, engraver, and pioneering draftsman, was born around 1500, likely in Venice to German parents, and became a child prodigy under the tutelage of his adoptive father, Giulio Campagnola. Apprenticed to Giulio around 1507 in Venice, he mastered painting, drawing, engraving, and woodcutting from the esteemed Paduan engraver, whose stipp...