The Story
The Virgin holding the infant Christ, a circular composition, after Reni by Anonymous, 17th century. The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1951
Created in 1645 during the Baroque period, this work belongs firmly within the religion & mythology tradition. Anonymous, 17th century worked at a moment when the rivalry between Catholic Baroque drama and Protestant restraint reshaped what a painting could mean. Every gesture, fabric, and gleam of light was decoded by contemporary viewers like a private language.
Executed in Engraving, measuring Sheet (Trimmed): 6 1/2 in. × 6 in. (16.5 × 15.2 cm), the surface rewards close looking. Anonymous, 17th century builds the composition through layered glazes and a tightly controlled palette, letting cool shadows recede so that the warm, lit passages step forward. The brushwork shifts from the precise to the almost dissolved — a hallmark of mature Baroque practice.
“A silence so complete it becomes its own witness.”
