The Virgin and Child with Saints Anne, John the Baptist, Zeno, and Anthony
Medium
Etching and engraving
Dimensions
Sheet (Trimmed): 22 1/8 × 13 9/16 in. (56.2 × 34.5 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1961
Accession Number
61.622.31
Art Historical Context
In the grand tradition of 18th-century religious art *The Virgin and Child with Anne, John the Baptist Zeno, and Anthony (1739) is a collaborative masterpiece of Italian painter Antonio Balestra and Swiss engraver Johann Jakob Frey Elder. Balestra, a leading figure in the late Baroque style transitioning toward Rococo elegance, likely designed the composition, which Frey masterfully reproduced through etching and engraving. This, measuring 22 1/8 × 13 9/16 inches, exemplifies how printmaking democratized access to devotional imagery, allowing sacred scenes to reach beyond elite patrons to hous...
About the Artist
Johann Jakob Frey the Elder|Antonio Balestra (Italian|Swiss|Swiss) · 1575 |1681 |1681 –1642 |1752 |1752
Italian, Bologna 1575–1642 Bologna|Swiss, active in Rome 1681–1752|Swiss, active in Rome 1681–1752