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Italian, 'Saint John the Baptist', probably 1640-60

About the work

Overview

A young man wearing only an animal skin is illuminated against a dark rock, leaning forward to drink water trickling from a spring. With one hand he props himself up on the rock and with the other he holds a reed cross – an attribute which identifies him as Saint John the Baptist, the desert hermit who foretold the coming of Christ.

This painting was once attributed to Caravaggio, or to one of his followers, but it was probably painted in the mid-seventeenth century in Rome. Caravaggio painted a number of pictures of the Baptist as an adolescent, including a scene of him leaning on a rock and drinking directly from a spring, of which numerous copies and variants exist, attesting to its popularity in the seventeenth century. Although not directly related to that composition, our painting’s tight crop, dramatic lighting and naturalistic rendering of the Baptist’s body are all ultimately inspired by Caravaggio’s example.

Key facts

Details

Full title
Saint John the Baptist
Artist
Italian
Date made
probably 1640-60
Medium and support
oil on canvas
Dimensions
77.8 × 62.3 cm
Acquisition credit
Bequeathed by Dame Joan Evans, 1979
Inventory number
NG6455
Location
Not on display
Collection
Main Collection
Frame
17th-century English Frame

About this record

If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.

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