European and American Art

BATTISTA DOSSI
Italian, Ferrara, active 1517 - 1548
The Holy Family with the Infant St. John the Baptist
oil on wood panel, about 1530
Ackland Fund, 85.22.1

Venetian painting was the dominant artistic influence in the north Italian city of Ferrara. Although as a young man Battista Dossi was part of Raphael's workshop in Rome, this painting is Venetian in its emphasis on light, atmosphere and rich color rather than on linear drawing and sculptural form.