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The Holy Family (?)

1488–1560
Not on view
The Florentine sculptor Baccio Bandinelli produced a number of pen and ink studies on the theme of the Holy Family (the Virgin Mary, Saint Joseph, and the Christ Child), all drawn with his typically incisive clarity of contour and orderly hatching. However, the reclining Classical-style female figure with one bare breast (at center) is not easily reconciled with traditional portrayals of the Virgin Mary. Rather, the arrangement of the figures in the present drawing may be inspired on the many variations of pose seen in the family groups among the Ancestors of Christ in Michelangelo's Sistine Ceiling frescoes (1508–12). As a draughtsman, Bandinelli derived some of his techniques from Michelangelo as well as Rosso Fiorentino.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Holy Family (?)
  • Artist: Baccio Bandinelli (Italian, Gaiole in Chianti 1493–1560 Florence)
  • Date: 1488–1560
  • Medium: Pen and brown ink
  • Dimensions: 13-1/16 x 8-1/4 in. (33.2 x 21.0 cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1912
  • Object Number: 12.56.6
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

More Artwork
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Study for a Standing Young Man, Raising a Curtain and Looking at Left, Baccio Bandinelli Italian, Red chalk
Study for a Standing Young Man, Raising a Curtain and Looking at Left
Baccio Bandinelli
1518–19
A Rocky Outcrop, Baccio Bandinelli Italian, Pen and brown ink
A Rocky Outcrop
Baccio Bandinelli
1493–1560
Massacre of the Innocents, Baccio Bandinelli Italian, Engraving
Massacre of the Innocents
Baccio Bandinelli
Marco Dente
n.d.
Cosimo I de' Medici (1519–1574), Duke of Florence, Baccio Bandinelli Italian, Marble, Italian, Florence
Cosimo I de' Medici (1519–1574), Duke of Florence
Baccio Bandinelli
1539–40
Seated Figure with Cloak and Turban, Baccio Bandinelli Italian, Pen and brown ink
Seated Figure with Cloak and Turban
Baccio Bandinelli
1493–1560

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