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The Holy Family

The Holy Family

Artist/Maker (Dutch, 1558–1617)
Date1593
MediumEngraving
DimensionsImage: 18 1/8 × 13 3/4 in. (46 × 34.9 cm)
Sheet: 18 3/4 × 14 in. (47.6 × 35.6 cm)
Credit LineGeneral Acquisitions Fund
PortfolioLife of the Virgin series
Object number1971.84
Status
Not on view
More Information
This image of the Holy Family is one of the six prints that comprise Goltzius’ The Early Life of the Virgin series of 1593-1594, dedicated to Duke William V of Bavaria (1548-1626). The series has been deemed Goltzius' masterwork, and in each of the engravings the artist replicated the style of a different old master. According to Van Mander's Schilder-boeck of 1604, Goltzius' imitative skills were so successful that his contemporaries purchased certain prints from this series under the false impression that they were originals by the masters that Goltzius emulated. While he changed the composition slightly, Goltzius based this image of the Holy Family on Federico Barocci's Madonna del Gatto (ca. 1575), which he may have seen in person while visiting Rome, or via Cornelis Cort's two engravings of the painting
Exhibition History
The Renaissance in Oberlin: Graphics from the Permanent Collection
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (November 25, 1986 - December 31, 1986 )
Quality and Technique in Prints
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (October 4, 1996 - December 22, 1996 )
Printing Practice: Religious Prints from the Renaissance
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (September 6, 2012 - December 23, 2012 )
Transformation: Images of Childhood and Adolescence
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (September 1, 2015 - December 23, 2015 )
Collections
  • European
This record was created from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator. Noticed a mistake? Have some extra information about this object? Please contact us.