The Holy Family

This engraving depicts an intimate, close-up scene of the Holy Family. Mary is shown with an elaborate, braided hairstyle and stylized features, looking down at the child on her lap, while an elderly, bearded Joseph leans in from the background. The composition is characterized by the use of swelling, rhythmic lines and complex cross-hatching to define the muscularity and volume of the figures.

This print is a collaboration between Goltzius and Bartholomeus Spranger, court painter to Emperor Rudolf II. It reflects the Mannerist aesthetic of the Rudolfine court, where the pursuit of technical 'wonder' in engraving was seen as a parallel to the era's investigations into natural philosophy and alchemy.