The Holy Family with the Infant John the Baptist
Medium
Engraving
Dimensions
Sheet: 18 7/16 × 13 7/8 in. (46.8 × 35.2 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1951
Accession Number
51.501.162
Tags
Art Historical Context
This engraving, created in 1593 by the renowned Dutch printmaker Hendrick Goltzius after a design by the Italian painter Federico Barocci, captures the tender gathering of the Holy Family with the infant Saint John the Baptist. The composition reflects the deep religious devotion of the late Renaissance period, when such scenes were popular for their emphasis on familial warmth and divine protection. Goltzius, celebrated for his extraordinary technical skill, translated Barocci’s painterly vision into the precise medium of engraving, allowing intricate details to reach a broader audience acros...
About the Artist
Hendrick Goltzius|Federico Barocci · 1558–1617
Hendrick Goltzius (1558–1617) was the most celebrated engraver of the Northern Renaissance and a pivotal figure in Dutch Mannerism. Born near the German-Dutch border, Goltzius transformed printmaking into a virtuoso art form through his revolutionary 'swelling line' technique, where the burin was manipulated to create lines of varying thickness that produced unprecedented tonal effects and three-d...