Artwork
Bertoldo Holding a Hare
Bertoldo Holding a Hare 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 artist of the late Baroque period linked to the Bolognese School, produced the print *Bertoldo Holding a Hare* circa 1712. Executed as an etching on laid paper, the work presents a solitary figure in a rural setting, rendered with the characteristic attention to everyday detail that marks Cresci’s genre oeuvre.
Subject & Meaning
The composition centers on an elderly man, identified as Bertoldo, who balances a hare in one hand while scratching his head with the other. The juxtaposition of the animal and the contemplative gesture suggests a moment of curiosity or bemusement, reflecting Crespi’s interest in capturing anecdotal, slice‑of‑life scenes.
Technique & Style
Crespi employed traditional etching methods, incising lines into a copper plate before transferring the image onto laid paper. The tonal contrasts and fine hatching convey texture in the figure’s loose coat, hat, and boots, while the background—bare tree, stream, and distant hills—remains loosely suggested, emphasizing the central figure.
History & Provenance
Signed with the artist’s initials, the print bears an Italian caption that comments on Bertoldo’s peculiar behavior. Though originally circulated among private collectors in the early 18th century, the work now resides in museum collections that document Crespi’s contributions to genre printmaking.
Context
Crespi, also known as Lo Spagnuolo, was prolific in both religious commissions and portraiture, yet his reputation rests largely on genre scenes that depict ordinary people. *Bertoldo Holding a Hare* exemplifies this focus, aligning with the broader Baroque interest in realism and narrative detail within everyday life.
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.
