# The Holy Family with the Infant St John [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [MICHELANGELO Buonarroti]() - Date: 1501-1550 - Technique: Black chalk over drawing in stylus, 317 x 191 mm ## Commentary This black chalk study depicts the Virgin Mary unclothed, enthroned, and in slight profile. Given the close resemblance to the <a onclick="return OpenOther\('/html/m/michelan/1sculptu/medici/3madonn1.html'\)" href="/html/m/michelan/1sculptu/medici/3madonn1.html">Madonna and Child in the Medici Chapel,</a> the drawing was often considered to be a draft for that sculpture. However, this assumption was rejected in view of the substantial deviations. Furthermore, the compositional concept suggests a realization in the form of a painting rather than as a sculpture. We may assume that the present drawing was not the final draft for the project, as the Virgin Mary is still completely nude. The powerful shapes of the Virgin Mary reflect the new, monumental figural ideal that Michelangelo started to develop during his work on the Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel. ## 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]()