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Laurent de La Hyre

The Holy Family with Putti

1640
Etching on ivory laid paper
28.8 × 40 cm (11.3 × 15.7 in)

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In the collection of Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago · as of July 2026

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FROM THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO’S CATALOG

Laurent de la Hyre studied at Fontainebleau between 1622 and 1625, where he probably learned printmaking. This etching, made in 1640 after a drawing now in Darmstadt, has been extolled as one of "masterpieces of French printmaking" by the art historians Pierre Rosenberg and Jacques Thuillier. A cluster of putti gather around the Virgin and infant Christ, who selects an apple from an overturned basket of fruit, reflecting his mission to redeem original sin.

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