Saint John the Baptist
Artist
Giovanni Pietro Rizzoli, "Giampietrino"
(Italian, active ca.1495-1553)
Dateca. 1530
Object number62.0263
Mediumoil on panel
Dimensions28 7/8 x 21 3/4 in. (73.3 x 55.2 cm)
frame: 39 1/4 x 32 3/8 x 4 in. (99.7 x 82.2 x 10.2 cm)
frame: 39 1/4 x 32 3/8 x 4 in. (99.7 x 82.2 x 10.2 cm)
ClassificationsPainting
Credit LineMuseo de Arte de Ponce. The Luis A. Ferré Foundation, Inc.
Gift of the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York
Collections
DescriptionThis image of Saint John the Baptist is part of a series of artworks by Rizzoli, featuring half-length figures set against dark backgrounds. The figures are softly modeled with light and shadow, creating blurred outlines through the “Leonardesque” sfumato technique. The Baptist gestures downward toward a lamb that symbolizes the Son of God's sacrifice as the path to salvation. His gesture echoes Leonardo’s depiction of this saint, now in the Louvre, though in that version the figure points upward toward the cross at the top of his staff.
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