Bertoldino Lying on a Donkey
1712
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
1712
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
Bertoldino Lying on a Donkey is a 1712 ink by Giuseppe Maria Crespi, a Baroque work, held at National Gallery of Art.
This etching shows a boy lying across a donkey’s back, arms outstretched like he’s taking a nap. The donkey walks forward, carrying him along a dirt path. A tree stands nearby, and the sky is filled with wavy clouds. The boy’s pose looks lazy, almost like a joke—maybe he’s pretending to be dead or just goofing off. The artist used fine lines to show every fold in the boy’s clothes and the donkey’s fur. Want to see more like this? Check out etching for how artists create prints like this one.
