Artwork
Virgin and Child with St John
Virgin and Child with St John is an oil painting by the High Baroque Italian artist Carlo Maratta. It dates from 1704 and is held in the collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
This triangular grouping symbolizes the holy family's extended circle and often alludes to John's future role as the precursor to Christ.
Carlo Maratta's 1704 oil painting on copper presents a devotional scene centered on the Virgin Mary and the Christ Child, accompanied by the Child Saint John the Baptist. The work adheres to the traditional iconography of the Madonna and Child, a staple of religious art, while explicitly including the young John the Baptist as a secondary figure. This triangular grouping symbolizes the holy family's extended circle and often alludes to John's future role as the precursor to Christ.
The depiction serves as a visual meditation on the infancy of Jesus, emphasizing themes of divine lineage and sacred childhood through the interaction of the three figures.
Technique & Style
The painting was executed in oil on a copper support, a technique documented in its technical record. The work measures 70.5 cm in height and 56.5 cm in width, reflecting the dimensions recorded at the holding institution. The composition presents the Virgin and Child flanked by Saint John, rendered with the refined brushwork characteristic of Maratta’s later period.
The stylistic handling emphasizes graceful drapery and a soft modeling of forms, aligning with Baroque conventions of sacred imagery.
History & Provenance
The copper painting Virgin and Child with St John is dated 1704 by Carlo Maratta and is recorded as part of the holdings of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
It entered the museum’s collection within the imperial collections assembled by the House of Habsburg and has remained in Vienna since at least the late nineteeenth century.
Overview
Carlo Maratta’s Virgin and Child with St John (1704) is a small‑scale oil painting executed on copper. The work presents the Virgin Mary seated on stone steps, cradling the infant Jesus, while a youthful Saint John kneels nearby with a scroll and staff. A bearded figure reclines against a wall in the background, and a distant group of pedestrians moves among ruined architecture.
Context
Created at the height of the high Baroque in Italy, the work reflects the period’s emphasis on harmonious composition and devotional intimacy. Maratta’s classicizing approach, shaped by the legacy of Raphael and the Carracci, aligns the painting with contemporary efforts to combine dynamic movement with restrained elegance, catering to both ecclesiastical and private devotional contexts.
Artist & collection
Artist
Carlo Maratta or Maratti (18 May 1625 – 15 December 1713) was an Italian Baroque painter and draughtsman, active principally in Rome where he was the leading painter in the second half of the 17th century.
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