The Holy Family with Saint Elizabeth and the Infant Saint John 1513

Editor: This is "The Holy Family with Saint Elizabeth and the Infant Saint John," a 1513 drawing by Albrecht Altdorfer. I'm struck by how the artist uses line and the brown paper to create this kind of dreamlike vision of a biblical scene, placing them within an elaborate landscape. What do you see in this piece? Curator: I see a deep engagement with materiality. Look at how Altdorfer exploits the toned paper. The brown *is* the mid-tone; he builds the image by adding dark lines and white heightening. Consider the socio-economic context: paper was becoming more accessible in the early 16th century. What was previously a luxury, available to few, was trickling down, offering new possibilities to artists like Altdorfer. How do you think this changed the relationship to artistic labor? Editor: That's a fascinating point. It suggests a shift from precious, commissioned works to more exploratory and potentially accessible art making, enabled by a wider range of available materials. Curator: Exactly! And what does the choice of drawing, a seemingly less "finished" medium than painting, suggest about the artistic intention here? Was this preparatory? Or was the process itself—the act of drawing and building an image with simple materials— the very heart of this devotional act? Also note the labor implied by his rendering of nature—the almost frantic energy with which he created the lines of the landscape. It underscores labor in a godly world. Editor: I see how a seemingly simple drawing reveals so much about the artistic process, the availability of materials, and the social context in which Altdorfer was working. It is more than just the religious iconography depicted! Curator: Precisely. And recognizing the shift in art making reveals not only more profound knowledge, but it exposes art and its origins as not separate from, but part of worldly structures.