The Sistine Madonna
Medium
Etching and engraving; fourth state of seven
Dimensions
plate: 30 1/4 x 22 in. (76.8 x 55.9 cm) sheet: 34 3/4 x 26 1/2 in. (88.3 x 67.3 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Junius S. Morgan, 1923
Accession Number
23.106.52
Tags
Art Historical Context
Behold *The Sistine Madonna*, a etching and engraving that captures the essence of Raphael's High Renaissance masterpiece, originally painted around 1512–13 for the church of San Sisto in Piacenza, Italy. This print, in its fourth state of seven, reproduces the iconic composition: the serene Madonna descending from heaven with the Christ Child in her arms, flanked by the cherubic angels at the base—now beloved cultural icons—and saints like Sixtus and Barbara. Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio), a pinnacle of Renaissance humanism, infused the scene with graceful harmony, ideal beauty, and emotional de...