The Nativity with Angels

Bartolomeo Biscaino

1650–57 · Etching; first state of eight (TIB) · Drawings and Prints

This is one of Biscaino’s most ambitious etchings. Its composition was inspired by Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione’s 1645 painting of the Nativity in the church of Saint Luca in Genoa. Biscaino worked in Genoa and his later prints show the influence of Castiglione. His etching style, however, is more restrained; the artist excelled at modeling forms to convey subtle variations of light and dark. During his short life (he died of the plague at twenty-eight), he is known to have made around forty etchings.

Artist

Bartolomeo Biscaino

Date

1650–57

Medium

Etching; first state of eight (TIB)

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1924