Holy Family with Saint Francis of Assisi and the Infant John the Baptist
after 1612
Medium
Pen and brown ink, with traces of red chalk, on tan laid paper, laid down on green wove paper
Dimensions
23 × 19.2 cm (9 1/16 × 7 9/16 in.)
Classification
pen and ink drawings
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
85761
Rights
Public Domain
Art Historical Context
Giacomo Cavedone’s *Holy Family with Saint Francis of Assisi and the Infant John the Baptist* captures a tender gathering of sacred figures in a compact pen-and-ink study. Created after 1612, the drawing brings together the Virgin Mary, Saint Joseph, the Christ Child, the young John the Baptist, and Saint Francis in a single devotional scene. Such combinations of biblical and saintly figures were especially meaningful in early-seventeenth-century Italy, where viewers sought personal connections to the holy family and Franciscan ideals of humility. Executed in brown ink with delicate touches of red chalk on tan laid paper, the sheet reveals Cavedone’s working process. Quick, confident strokes define drapery folds and gestures, while faint chalk underdrawing suggests the artist explored poses before committing to a final composition. Small in scale—just 23 by 19.2 centimeters—this type of preparatory drawing was never meant for public display, yet it offers today’s visitors an intimate glimpse into how Baroque artists developed complex religious narratives. Now preserved in the Art Institute of Chicago’s collection of prints and drawings, the work reminds us that even modest sheets of paper can illuminate the creative and spiritual concerns of their time.
About the Artist
Giacomo Cavedone · 1577–1660
Italian, Sassuolo 1577–1660 Bologna