The Holy Family with the Church of Saint Michael in Munich under Construction
Medium
Engraving
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1949
Accession Number
49.95.1365
Tags
Art Historical Context
In 1589, Friedrich Sustris, Dutch-born painter and architect active at the Bavarian court, collaborated with the Flemish engraver Johann Sad I to create *The Holy Family with the Church of Saint Michael in under Construction*. This intricate engraving captures the Virgin Mary, infant Jesus, angels, and holy figures in a serene foreground, while the backdrop dramatically features the massive Jesuit Church of St. Michael—still under construction—in Munich. Commissioned during Duke Wilhelm V's reign, the church symbolized the Catholic Counter-Reformation's resurgence in Protestant-threatened Bava...