The Holy Family Arriving at a City Gate 1750 - 1753

Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo made this etching, "The Holy Family Arriving at a City Gate," using a copper plate and acid. The starkness of black ink on white paper immediately gives the image a documentary feel, as if recording an actual historical moment. Yet, the linear quality of the etching emphasizes its constructed nature. Look closely at the city gate: its archway is built up with an accumulation of small hatched lines, the image brought into being via labor-intensive process. This echoes the subject of the image itself: the arrival of the Holy Family, surrounded by a crowd of people. What is the relationship between the individuals depicted and the built environment they inhabit? How do people and place come together to define a city’s character? The image is a testament to the human scale of labor, the physical effort required to build a world, and the communities that then bring it to life. By considering materials, making, and context, we realize how it challenges traditional distinctions between fine art and craft.