# Birth of the Virgin

- By: Giuseppe Cades (Italian, 1750-1799)
- Date: c. 1784
- Medium: Pen and brown ink with pen and brown wash, over traces of graphite, heightened with white gouache (discolored), on ivory laid paper
- Classification: Drawing and Watercolor
- Dimensions: 42 × 56 cm (16 9/16 × 22 1/16 in.)
- Culture: Italy
- Credit line: Bequest of Inge Maser
- Museum: [Art Institute of Chicago](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/194756)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://invisiblenetwork.ai/thumbs/web/c6e3789099fc5de8fc3224f558b413c1.jpg
- Who can see it: Tweens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

Cades divides his scene of the Virgin Mary’s birth into two symbolic halves. In the background at right, deep in shadow, Mary’s mother Saint Anne recuperates in bed. In the foreground at left, bathed in light, Saint Joachim gestures toward the infant Mary. Influenced by both ancient Roman sculptural reliefs and Italian Renaissance painting (particularly that of Raphael), the artist rendered the birth of the Virgin as if it were carved from time-stained marble. The drawing is characterized by strong contour lines, monochromatic coloring, and a frieze-like arrangement.

Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0