Skip to main content
Advanced Search
The Holy Family with the Young Saint John the Baptist, from Meisterstiche
The Holy Family with the Young Saint John the Baptist, from Meisterstiche

The Holy Family with the Young Saint John the Baptist, from Meisterstiche

Primary (Mülbracht, Germany, 1558–Haarlem, The Netherlands, 1617)
NationalityDutch, Europe
Date1593
MediumEngraving
DimensionsSheet: 18 7/8 × 14 3/16 in. (48 × 36 cm)
Additional Dimension: 18 3/4 × 14 in. (47.7 × 35.5 cm)
Credit LineBlanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin, The Leo Steinberg Collection, 2002.2180
Collection AreaPrints and Drawings
Object number2002.2180
On View
Not on view
Label Text
Known for his swelling burin lines and naturalistic subjects, Goltzius portrays the Holy Family in an intimate domestic setting. Mary, Joseph, Christ, and Saint John sit together outside a small house. In the window of the house, a cat reaches out to capture a bird with its paws. The humble scene does not depict the Virgin as a heavenly queen but rather as a mother with her child. This connects the holy figures to the viewer’s everyday experiences and so humanizes the religious subject.
Exhibitions