# The Holy Family with Saint Elizabeth

**Jacopo de' Barbari** (Italian, c. 1460/70–c. 1516)  
c. 1503  
engraving  
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.)

Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1930.575. [The museum's record](https://clevelandart.org/art/1930.575).

## About this work

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.

_Text from the Cleveland Museum of Art._

Jacopo de' Barbari made this in about 1503, aged about 43. It is now at the Cleveland Museum of Art.

### How it was made

- **Engraving.** Lines cut directly into a metal plate with a steel burin, which makes them swell and taper. It took years to master, and for centuries it was how paintings travelled as pictures.

### [Jacopo de' Barbari](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/jacopo-de-barbari)

Italian, c. 1460/70–c. 1516

## Facts

- Type: Print
- Culture: Italy
- The artist was about 43
- Real size: about 5 × 6½ in (13 × 16 cm). The original is small: even the 8 × 10 in print shows it larger than life.
- Century: 15th century
- Movement: [Renaissance](https://www.ochreeditions.com/movements/renaissance)
- Colour: grey
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/526.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/526/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68; 20 × 30 in $86
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164; 20 × 30 in $208
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3; 20 × 30 in $5

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/the-holy-family-with-saint-elizabeth-cma-112099).