Virgin and Child with the Infant Saint John

Active in the early 1500s, the Florentine engraver Cristofano Robetta relied on paintings, frescoes, and works on paper by both Italian and northern European artists, borrowing motifs, figures, and settings with varying degrees of faithfulness. Paintings and drawings by the Florentine artist, Filippino Lippi, were a primary source of inspiration. In this engraving, the central figures of the Virgin, Child, and Saint John derive from Filippino’s Holy Family tondo, though the printmaker replaced the Saints Margaret and Joseph with angels.