# Madonna and Child with the Infant St John [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [MICHELANGELO Buonarroti]() - Date: 1501-1550 - Technique: Black chalk, 314 x 200 mm ## Commentary Madonna and Child with the Infant St John c. 1533 Black chalk, 314 x 200 mm British Museum, London This is a charming depiction of the Madonna and Child with the infant St John. It can be observed that the posture of the Madonna is reminiscent of the young female figure in the <a onclick="return OpenOther\('/html/m/michelan/3sistina/6lunette/10/lu10rob.html'\)" href="/html/m/michelan/3sistina/6lunette/10/lu10rob.html">Rehoboam - Abijah lunette</a> in the vault of the Sistine Chapel. The manner in which the children are teasing one another in Michelangelo's drawing is rather uncharacteristic of depictions of the Madonna. It seems that the artist oriented himself on the grotesque movements of the Morris dancers, which have been depicted in the arts since the early fifteenth century. Examples include the famous <a onclick="return OpenOther\('/html/g/grasser/morris\_d.html'\)" href="/html/g/grasser/morris\_d.html">sculptural group</a> by Erasmus Grasser as well as <a onclick="return OpenOther\('/html/m/meckenem/morris\_d.html'\)" href="/html/m/meckenem/morris\_d.html">engravings</a> by Israhel van Meckenem. In the fine, compositionally accomplished execution of the drawing and the dense, relief-like joining together of the figures there are close parallels to the presentation sheets for Tommaso de' Cavalieri such as The Fall of Phaethon, The Holy Family with the Infant St John, and the Warwick Pietà. ## Related artworks - [A Man Lifting a Boar onto his Shoulder \(verso\)]() - [Abraham - Isaac - Jacob - Judah]() - [Achim - Eliud \(detail\)]() - [Achim - Eliud \(detail\)]() - [Achim - Eliud]() - [Aeneas with a Boy \(recto\)]() - [Allegorical figure]() - [Amminadab \(detail\)]() - [Amminadab \(detail\)]() - [Amminadab]() - [Ancestors of Christ: figures \(detail\)]() - [Ancestors of Christ: figures \(detail\)]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()