Johan Jakob Frey - Immaculate Conception

The original etching and engraving by Johan Jakob Frey (1681-1752) reproduces the painting by Carlo Maratta (1625-1713) that adorns the altarpiece of the De Sylva Chapel in the church of S. Isidoro in Rome. The iconography contains the elements traditionally associated with the representation of the Immaculate Conception: the Virgin standing on the globe, with the crescent moon under her feet and her head crowned with stars, holds the Child in her arms and tramples on the serpent, symbol of sin, pierced by the cross.

Marco Maiorino

The work is a perfect example of 16th- and 17th-century engraving, which signifies an exaltation of the values ​​of drawing and form over the original pictorial model. Indeed, compared to the work of Carlo Maratta, whose classicist naturalism is dominated by a certain atmosphericism, Frey's engraving exalts plasticity. Indeed, we find an almost multiplication of forms and draperies. This is the very essence of engraving: maximizing the potential of drawing. For this reason, the scene is depicted in minute detail with a decidedly classical spirit due to the monumentality of the volumes. The overabundance of elements in the composition, however, can be ascribed to a substantially Baroque spirit, akin to the cultural environment in which Frey's engraving work developed. From a formal standpoint, we can admire the excellent technique that characterizes this artist and made him famous in his time, featuring an extremely fine hatching that delineates each subject with extreme precision. Johan Jakob Frey was a draftsman and engraver. He was born in Hochdorf in 1681 and died in Rome in 1752. He trained in Rome in 1702 under Arnold van Westerhout and Carlo Maratta, and it was there that he reached the height of his talent and fame. Except for a few brief stays in his native Switzerland, most of his career was spent in Rome. Among his numerous works is the pastel portrait of the Marquise du Chatelet.

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