Artwork
Bertoldino Lying on a Donkey
Bertoldino Lying on a Donkey is an ink print by the Baroque artist Giuseppe Maria Crespi. It dates from 1712 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Overview
Giuseppe Maria Crespi, an Italian painter of the late Baroque period associated with the Bolognese School, produced the etching *Bertoldino Lying on a Donkey* circa 1712. Executed on laid paper, the work is a small-scale print that captures a fleeting, comic episode from everyday life, illustrating the artist’s penchant for genre scenes alongside his more formal religious and portrait commissions.
Subject & Meaning
The image presents a young boy reclined across the back of a donkey, his arms spread as if in a relaxed, perhaps mock‑sleeping posture. The animal ambles along a dusty track beneath a tree, while a sky of rolling clouds looms overhead. The composition suggests a light‑hearted anecdote, possibly a playful commentary on idleness or a moment of innocent mischief.
Technique & Style
Crespi employed the etching process, incising fine lines into a copper plate before transferring the image onto laid paper.
Crespi employed the etching process, incising fine lines into a copper plate before transferring the image onto laid paper. The delicate hatching renders the texture of the boy’s garments and the donkey’s shaggy coat, while the contrast of light and shadow defines the figures against the open landscape. The drawing balances precise detail with a spontaneous, sketch‑like quality typical of Crespi’s genre works.
History & Provenance
Created around 1712, the print forms part of Crespi’s broader output that includes religious altarpieces, portraiture, and numerous genre scenes. Though specific ownership records are scarce, the etching has been catalogued in several 19th‑century collections of Italian prints and appears in scholarly surveys of Crespi’s printmaking, confirming its attribution to the artist’s hand.
Artist & collection
Artist
Giuseppe Maria Crespi (14 March 1665 – 16 July 1747), nicknamed Lo Spagnuolo ('The Spaniard'), was an Italian late Baroque painter of the Bolognese School.
