Saint John the Baptist c.1590-1610
Oil on canvas | 56.4 x 36.8 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external) | RCIN 402772
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The young Saint John the Baptist is shown at half-length, aged about twelve. He is nude except for a grey goatskin and is turned half to the right, with his head nearly frontal and inclined to the left. He is gesturing with his arm to the scroll around his staff, which reads ECCE (‘behold’).
Although it is painted on coarse canvas, this work gives the impression of being the work of a fluent painter and a draughtsman of great competence and facility. The greyish flesh, with pale-pink highlights, is distinctively Tuscan. The broken lighting leads towards Andrea Boscoli, in whose work comparative material is to be found, including his Preaching of the Baptist (Rimini) and his half-length Saint Sebastian (Uffizi). Both posture and anatomy are very similar in Boscoli’s signed Marriage at Cana (Uffizi).Provenance
Probably the 'St John naked, to the waist, 1ft 9in x 1ft 2in' recorded in Store at Whitehall in 1666 (no 584), which also appears in the King's Great Closet at Whitehall in 1688 (no 567); certainly the 'head of St John' attributed to Schiavone listed in the Private Closet at Kensington Palace in 1818 (no 628)
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Creator(s)
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Medium and techniques
Oil on canvas
Measurements
56.4 x 36.8 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external)
62.5 x 41.0 x 5.0 cm (frame, external)
Category
Object type(s)