Saint Elizabeth with Infant Saint John
Ca. 1645.Not on display
Due to its close resemblance to Getafe’s canvas depicting the same theme and painted by Cano in 1645, this sketch has been identified as Saint Elizabeth with the Infant Saint John. Saint Elizabeth is depicted standing in a marked contrapposto position and holding her hefty son at waist level to the right. The reflective and intimate tone of the composition is perhaps better identified in the drawing: on the canvas, Saint Elizabeth is depicted holding her head up and away from the child, in the direction of the centre of the altarpiece. However, in the drawing, the mother’s intense concentration on her son conveys a sense of ominous prophecy.
Drawings and studies related to the canvas in the parish church of the Magdalena in Getafe have survived in four distinct mediums: charcoal, pen and ink, pen and ink wash, and a study in grisaille. The charcoal study of Saint Elizabeth and Saint John displays a rich variety of mixed hues that recalls Cano’s use of ink. It is one of the few drawings executed with this type of technique that is definitively attributed to the master.
Veliz, Zahira, Alonso Cano (1601-1667): dibujos, Santander, Fundación Marcelino Botín, 2009, p.280-281; nº 45
