The Holy Family and Saint Elizabeth

The Holy Family with the Virgin talking to St Elizabeth and the infant Baptist, while Joseph works at his bench.

Etching, circa 1650/60, with etched signature bottom right 'Siranus in'.

Very nice proof, with plate scratches typical of very early impressions, printed on contemporary laid paper with “oval with lion rampant” watermark, trimmed to copperplate, minimal abrasions in upper right part and lower left corner - restored - two restored horizontal paper folds, otherwise in good condition.

“The Holy Family with Saint Elizabeth and Saint John the Baptist is one of Elesabetta Sirani’s most striking and original etchings. There are reminiscences of the prints of Guido Reni and especially Simone Cantarini in the Madonna and Child figures and in the energetically moving drapery, sketchy execution, and strong light effects. However, Sirani's image is less balanced and less classically ordered than Reni's or Cantarini's images usually are, and it has a distinctive, angular harshness. The vigorous figure of Saint Joseph chopping wood creates a strong, dynamic thrust toward the left background, reinforced by the curious line of steps behind him. A raking light floods into the print along an opposing diagonal, from the upper left to the lower right, creating dramatic, jagged patches of intense highlight and deep shadow. Even the etching strokes that form most of the shadows are stretched out along the same diagonal, as if pushed by the force of the light.  While Reni and Cantarini generally strove for an overall, flickering luminosity, Sirani here delighted in striking contrasts. Half of the Christ Child's face is in deep shadow, half in bright light, giving his upward-directed eye a haunting intensity. The Virgin's face is in deep shadow, while the arc of her head, brightly lighted, stands out against the dark figure of Saint Joseph. The strongly contrasted lights and darks of the Virgin, the Child, and Saint Joseph are silhouetted against the middle tone of the wall behind, which was stopped out in the course of etching and more lightly bitten. A similarly dramatic, expressive use of strong chiaroscuro can be seen in Sirani's painting Porcia Wounding Her Thigh, and in the distinctive drawings she did with brush and wash.  This print is somber in mood and in symbolism. Saint Joseph was certainly meant to be seen as working with pieces of wood that prefigure the cross. The face of the Virgin is veiled in darkness and she sits on a bed, possibly an allusion to her death, another familiar subject in art. The impression shown here is unusually fresh, with clean, high-key whites and rich, ink-saturated shadows, as seen most notably beneath the Virgin's chin. Despite the density of the hatching in that area and in other deep shadows, the print shows no evidence of overbiting or plate breakdown. This, together with Sirani's accomplished use of staged biting, indicates her considerable technical sophistication and mastery of the medium” (cf. Richard Wallice in Italian Etchers of the Renaissance & Barocque, p. 131).

Elisabetta Sirani (Bologna, January 8, 1638 - Bologna, August 28, 1665) was an Italian Baroque painter and engraver. She was the daughter of Giovanni Andrea Sirani (1601-1670), an established Bolognese painter, Guido Reni's first assistant and art dealer. The artist is remembered not only for her remarkable artistic skills, proven by the presence of many of her works in various European collections, but also for being one of the rare painters to have also been involved in engravings. Her artistic talents, which ranged from painting to drawing and engraving, enabled her to enter the Accademia di San Luca as a professor in 1660. Two years later she replaced her father in running his art workshop and turned it into an art school for girls, thus becoming the first woman in Europe to run a girls' school of painting. Alongside her canvases, from a young age Sirani also made highly prized etchings generally derived from her paintings.

Bibliografia

Bartsch, Le Peintre graveur (XIX.156.8); Sue Welsh Reed, Richard Wallice, Italian Etchers of the Renaissance & Barocque, pp. 131-132, n. 64.