The Holy Family with Saint Elizabeth

c. 1503

Jacopo de' Barbari

(Italian, c. 1460/70–c. 1516)

Culture

Italy, 16th century

Medium

engraving

Measurements

Platemark: 12.8 x 16.3 cm (5 1/16 x 6 7/16 in.); Sheet: 13.3 x 16.6 cm (5 1/4 x 6 9/16 in.)

Credit Line

Dudley P. Allen Fund 1930.575

Catalogue raisonné

Hind V.151.5 ; Bartsch VII.518.4

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Location

Not on view

Did You Know?

Before scholars identified all the works of Jacopo de' Barbari by name, he was called "Master of the Caduceus" for the symbol of a Mercury's staff with which he often signed his prints, seen here at lower right.

Description

While this landscape might seem desolate and strange, it is rife with religious symbolism. The Virgin Mary and Christ on the right sit with Mary’s cousin, Saint Elizabeth, and her son, Saint John the Baptist. The Bible describes Elizabeth as past childbearing age; both she and Mary were granted virgin births by God. The barren trees, therefore, signify Elizabeth’s
infertility, while the fencelike enclosure denotes the enclosed garden of virginity. The trees also remind viewers of Eve’s sin in the Garden of Eden. Jacopo de’ Barbari placed lively grapevines on the dying trees, a metaphor for Christ.