The Holy Family with Saint Elizabeth
Medium
engraving
Dimensions
sheet: 13.3 × 16.6 cm · platemark: 12.8 × 16.3 cm
Classification
Department
Prints
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Dudley P. Allen Fund
Accession Number
1930.575
Tags
male
About this artwork
While this landscape might seem desolate and strange, it is rife with religious symbolism. The Virgin Mary and Christ on the right sit with Mary’s cousin, Saint Elizabeth, and her son, Saint John the Baptist. The Bible describes Elizabeth as past childbearing age; both she and Mary were granted virgin births by God. The barren trees, therefore, signify Elizabeth’s infertility, while the fencelike enclosure denotes the enclosed garden of virginity. The trees also remind viewers of Eve’s sin in th...