Madonna (After Carlo Dolci) - Francesco Bartolozzi

A refined 1769 stipple engraving by Francesco Bartolozzi, depicting the Madonna after a painting by Carlo Dolci.

This stipple engraving by Francesco Bartolozzi, published in 1769, reproduces a devotional painting by the Italian Baroque artist Carlo Dolci. Bartolozzi, an Italian engraver who spent much of his career in London, became a master of the stipple technique, which uses dots of varying density to create soft, tonal transitions that mimic the appearance of chalk drawings or oil paintings.

The composition presents a bust-length portrait of the Madonna, her head bowed in a gesture of quiet contemplation. Her features are rendered with delicate precision, and the heavy folds of her veil are captured through subtle gradations of shadow and light. The circular frame, or tondo, is set against a background of fine, horizontal hatching, which provides a textural contrast to the smooth, rounded forms of the figure.

Below the main image, the print features an elaborate cartouche containing a shield with a cross, flanked by two putti. This decorative element, typical of 18th-century print culture, serves to frame the publication details and the attribution to the original painter, Carlo Dolci. The work was published by John Boydell, a significant figure in the London art market who commissioned many such engravings to bring European Old Master paintings to a wider audience.

Bartolozzi’s technical skill is evident in the way he translates the painterly softness of Dolci’s original into the linear medium of engraving. The print demonstrates the high level of craftsmanship expected of professional engravers in the late 18th century, who were tasked with translating complex colour palettes into monochromatic tonal values. This piece remains a fine example of the reproductive print tradition, which allowed collectors to own high-quality interpretations of celebrated religious works from across the continent.