PHILIPPE DE SOYE (after Michelangelo) The Holy Family with Saint John the Baptist.
Engraving, 1565. 400x280 mm; 16x11 inches, thread margins. Second state (of 2), with the address of Lafreri. Pilgrim in a coat-of-arms watermark. A very good, richly-inked impression, with strong contrasts.
Philippe de Soye, who was active as an engraver during the 1560s-70s, came from what is now part of southern Belgium. He was in Rome from 1565 to 1572, where he worked with Cornelis Cort. This engraving was based on a design by Michelangelo, now known through a red chalk study in the the Portland Collection, Nottinghamshire. Hollstein 5.
