The Holy Family with Two Saints
1501 to 1550
Medium
chiaroscuro woodcut printed in black from line block only [proof]
Dimensions
sheet (trimmed to and within border): 31 x 21.7 cm (12 3/16 x 8 9/16 in.) support: 32.3 x 22.5 cm (12 11/16 x 8 7/8 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund
Accession Number
1988.65.2
Art Historical Context
Behold *The Holy Family with Two*, a captivating chiaroscuro woodcut by Antonio da Trento, faithfully reproducing a design by the Mannerist master Parmigianino (Francesco Mazz, 1503–1540). Created between 1501 and 1550 during the Italian Renaissance, this print depicts the tender scene of the Virgin Mary, Christ Child, and St. Joseph accompanied by two saints, embodying the era's devotional art that brought sacred figures into intimate, human scale for worshippers. The medium is a chiaroscuro woodcut—a revolutionary 16th-century technique using multiple blocks to mimic the light-and-shadow dr...