The Holy Family with Saint John
ca. 1754–62
Medium
Pen and brown ink, brown wash
Dimensions
11 7/16 x 7 7/8 in. (29 x 20 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Robert Lehman Collection
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Robert Lehman Collection, 1975
Accession Number
1975.1.442
Tags
Art Historical Context
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, master of the Venetian Roc style, created *The Holy Family with Saint* around 1754–62, his prolific late career. This intimate drawing depicts the tender scene of the Virgin Mary cradling the Christ Child, flanked by Saint Joseph and the young Saint John the Baptist, a devotional subject in Christian art symbolizing innocence, prophecy, and divine protection. Tiepolo's compositions often evoked grandeur and emotion, blending Baroque drama with Rococo elegance, even in preparatory sketches like this one. Executed in pen and brown ink with brown wash—a technique Tiepo...
About the Artist
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo · 1696–1770
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1696-1770) stands as the greatest decorative painter of eighteenth-century Europe, a Venetian master whose luminous frescoes and dynamic compositions defined the Rococo era's aesthetic zenith. Born in Venice on March 5, 1696, to a modest shipping merchant family, Tiepolo's extraordinary talent transcended his humble origins to establish him as the most sought-after artis...