Holy Family [recto]

Donato Creti

1710

ink

From the collection of National Gallery of Art

Baroque 18th Century Religious

About this work

This sketch shows two figures—one sitting, one kneeling—holding a small child between them. The lines are quick and scratchy, almost like hurried notes. The paper has a rough texture, and the ink is dark in some spots, lighter in others. The artist used lots of overlapping lines to build up shadows and shapes. It’s not polished; it feels like a quick study rather than a finished work. Next, check out cross-hatching to see how artists use layers of lines like this.