Madonna and Child with Saint John the Baptist

In this intimate print, the Virgin Mary cradles the Christ Child, who reaches out to a young Saint John the Baptist. Mulinari captures a tender moment, with Mary’s gaze directed towards the two infants, her head gently tilted. The composition draws your eye to the center, where the three figures are clustered, creating a sense of quiet devotion. Light, seemingly from an unseen source above and to the left, illuminates their faces and the delicate folds of their drapery, emphasizing their forms against the darker background. The artist’s use of etching and aquatint creates subtle gradations of tone, giving the scene a soft, almost painterly quality, especially in the shadows that define the figures and their surroundings. The year 1750 for this print is plausible, given Stefano Mulinari's birth year of 1741, as he would have been around nine years old. It is possible the date refers to a design he copied or adapted.