Heilige Familie met Johannes de Doper 1565

Philippe de Soye created this engraving, "Holy Family with John the Baptist," around 1560 in Rome. Here, the infant Jesus is shown asleep on Mary's lap as she gently keeps John the Baptist at bay. Joseph slumbers behind them, and the Latin inscription cautions, "Do not wake the sleeping boy, who is indeed asleep in body, but truly vigilant in mind." The image is steeped in the religious culture of the time. It expresses the idea that even in sleep, Christ possesses divine awareness. De Soye, a printmaker, would have been keenly aware of the institutional role of such images within the Catholic Church. Produced in Rome, the image also reflects the city's status as a center for artistic production and religious authority. The print's existence speaks to the power of the church and its patronage of the arts. The inscription indicates the name of the printmaker, and crucially, the publisher, demonstrating the growing importance of printmaking as a commercial enterprise. By examining such details, we, as historians, can better understand the complex interplay between art, religion, and commerce in 16th-century Rome. Resources such as period documents, religious texts, and studies of the art market offer deeper insights into the social and institutional contexts that shaped this artwork.