The Virgin and Child with Distaff and an Angel
c. 1611–13
Medium
etching and engraving
Dimensions
sheet: 26.1 × 19.3 cm · platemark: 25.1 × 18.7 cm
Classification
Department
Prints
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Gift of The Print Club of Cleveland in honor of Louise S. Richards
Accession Number
1986.244
Tags
About this artwork
Bellange produced only 48 etchings between 1611 and 1616, yet his brilliant artistic imagination and technical mastery place him among the greatest European printmakers of the 17th century. Although based on traditional Christian imagery, Bellange’s etchings are filled with an unusual psychological drama and a penetrating spirituality. Elongated, sensual figures engage in provocative scenes that might seem extreme or even bizarre but are characteristic of Mannerism, an international artistic sty...