The Holy Family with the Infant Saint John the Baptist
1530
Michelangelo’s Mary isn't your typical delicate Renaissance mom; she looks like she could wrestle a bear, showcasing his obsession with muscular anatomy even in religious sketches. This drawing from around 1530 is a chaotic but brilliant study sheet featuring the Holy Family and the infant John the Baptist huddled together. To the right, a ghostly horse head emerges, hinting that the artist was likely brainstorming multiple ideas at once on this single page. The scratchy red and black chalk lines capture his frantic creative energy, showing us how a genius worked out his compositions before committing to stone or canvas.
- Technique
- Red and black chalk
- Material
- Paper