Artwork
Bertoldo Placing the Jailer in the Sack
Bertoldo Placing the Jailer in the Sack 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, known as Lo Spagnuolo, produced an etching titled *Bertoldo Placing the Jailer in the Sack* circa 1712. Executed on laid paper, the work belongs to the late Baroque period and reflects the artist’s engagement with narrative genre scenes alongside his more familiar religious and portrait commissions.
Subject & Meaning
The image illustrates a moment from the medieval legend of Bertoldo, a court jester celebrated for his clever and often bawdy tricks. In this episode, the jester is shown forcing a heavy, bound figure into a sack, a visual punchline that underscores the comic reversal of power typical of Bertoldo stories popular in early‑18th‑century Italy.
Technique & Style
Crespi employed the etching process, incising lines into a copper plate that were then transferred onto laid paper. The drawing relies on fine hatching to convey the strain of the figure’s back and arms, while the plain wall and floor eliminate distractions, directing attention to the physical effort and the narrative tension.
History & Provenance
Created around 1712, the print circulated among collectors interested in genre subjects and the Bertoldo cycle, which enjoyed frequent treatment in Italian visual culture. Though specific ownership records are sparse, the work is documented in catalogues of Crespi’s prints and has appeared in several scholarly exhibitions of Bolognese Baroque art.
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.
