The Holy Family with the Infant Saint John the Baptist (recto); Amorous Putti at Play; Head of a Bird (verso) Gm-00042701

Michelangelo Buonarroti (Italian, 1475–1564) Although Michelangelo Buonarroti used the theme of the Madonna and Child many times during his life, here he chose to represent a variant of the motif, one not specifically related in the Bible but commonly depicted by artists in the 1400s and 1500s. The infant Saint John the Baptist and two angels join the Holy Family on an interlude in their flight into Egypt to escape Herod's massacre of Jewish male newborns. To the right, a lightly drawn donkey grazes; the angels are barely discernible at the top left. The focus of attention, however, is the central group of the Virgin and the two children.

Michelangelo achieved a solid, sculptural effect by using a combination of different media drawn on top of each other: underdrawing with a stylus, black and then red chalk, followed by pen and brown ink. Finely modulated hatching and cross-hatching enhances the figures' sense of three-dimensionality. Changes reflecting Michelangelo's creative working methods are visible in the head of the Virgin, which is positioned simultaneously looking downwards to the left and upwards to the right.

Our Cards are all printed on 100% cotton tree-free archival paper. All Cards include a recycled kraft envelope in a protective sleeve individually hand wrapped for you. Each card is printed one at a time and hand bound here in Lugano, Switzerland. We ship all over the world via SwissPost. Please allow 5-9 business days for us to make them and 5-7 business days for transit. Art Prints are printed on heavy matte finish German art paper using the finest Canon archival inks. Frame is black natural with a white mattboard and Acrylite glazing.

Wall Murals are printed on 42" matte finish, self-adhesive Kodak PhotoText fabric panels that combine and mount easily on a non textured wall surface. We can custom make to any size, just ask.

Stretched Canvas is stretched by hand over 1.5" thick pine bars and printed on cotton poly matte finish canvas. Each canvas is hand coated with Hahnemuhle UV/Archive coating, these are Swiss quality best in industry canvases.

All our images are digitized from the original negative, printed and assembled in Switzerland to museum standards by our master printer.

All of our products are popular and custom made by hand to order, please allow 2-4 weeks to make them and 1-2 weeks for shipment anywhere in the world.

Questions? Please email service@archivea.com

Artwork in this collection is from The J. Paul Getty Museum. Reproduction rights are reserved by the copyright owner and used under license by Archivea GmbH.