The Virgin of Sorrows; central part of a print with nine surounding compartments, now separated
by 1575
Medium
Engraving
Dimensions
Sheet: 8 3/8 × 4 7/16 in. (21.2 × 11.2 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1953
Accession Number
53.600.3486
Tags
Art Historical Context
Behold *The Virgin of Sorrows a poignant central engraving by the masterful Italian printmaker Giorgio Ghisi, by 1575. This intimate sheet, measuring just 8 3/8 × 4 7/16 inches, captures the Virgin Mary in profound grief—known as the Mater Dolorosa—her face etched with sorrow amid the Seven Sorrows of Mary, a core theme in Catholic devotion. Originally part of a composition with nine surrounding compartments (now separated), it exemplifies the modular design popular in devotional prints of the era. Ghisi, a leading engraver of the 16th century from Mantua, was renowned for his precise, fluid ...
About the Artist
Giorgio Ghisi · 1520–1582
Giorgio Ghisi (c. 1520–1582) was one of the most accomplished engravers of the Italian Renaissance, renowned for translating the monumental compositions of Raphael, Giulio Romano, and Michelangelo into the exacting medium of the burin. Born in Mantua, he trained in an environment shaped by the legacy of Giulio Romano's decoration of the Palazzo del Te, and the grandeur of that Mannerist tradition ...