Jan de Bisschop

This drawing is an excellent example of Jan de Bisschop's work in his typical medium of bister ink, a dark brown medium that fades over time to a rich orange tone. In terms of style, the classically posed figures reflect the artist's fascination with Italian models. His interests prompted him to travel to Italy around 1655 to study and sketch Greek and Roman sculpture as well as Italian paintings and monuments. Many of his works are direct copies from Italian models, while others are reminiscent of classical art, but do not resemble any particular object or school, as is the case with this RISD drawing. It is only the woman's halo and the fruit in the child's hand that identify the subjects as the Madonna and Child. Close examination reveals that the contours of Madonna and Child were incised with a burin, an engraver's tool, indicating that de Bisschop presumably intended to copy the outline of his drawing in order to produce a print of it. Many of his sketches were reproduced as prints and bound in volumes that were meant to serve as teaching models for young artists. To date, no print of this drawing has been discovered.