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Raphael, 'Saint John the Baptist Preaching', 1505

About the work

This painting is the only surviving scene from the predella (base) of Raphael’s altarpiece for the Ansidei chapel in S. Fiorenzo, Perugia. The main panel of the altarpiece, ‘The Ansidei Madonna’, is also in the National Gallery’s collection. This predella panel would have been placed beneath the figure of John the Baptist. Below Saint Nicholas was a shipwreck, probably relating to one of the miracles he performed. That scene seems not to have survived.

John the Baptist appears as the forerunner of Christ, preaching to a crowd of men (Luke 3: 1–17). He can be identified by his traditional camel-skin costume, which he wears beneath a billowing red mantle, and by the thin reed cross in his left hand. He points towards heaven, referring to the coming of Christ. When the altarpiece was intact, he would also have been pointing to the identically dressed Baptist in the main panel above, who points towards the infant Christ.

Key facts

Full title
Saint John the Baptist Preaching
Artist
Raphael
Artist dates
1483 - 1520
Part of the series
The Ansidei Altarpiece, San Fiorenzo, Perugia
Date made
1505
Medium and support
oil on wood
Dimensions
26.2 × 52 cm
Acquisition credit
Bought, 1983
Inventory number
NG6480
Location
Not on display
Collection
Main Collection
Frame
20th-century Replica 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.

About the series: The Ansidei Altarpiece, San Fiorenzo, Perugia

Raphael, 'The Ansidei Madonna', 1505

Raphael painted this altarpiece for the Ansidei family chapel dedicated to Saint Nicholas in the Servite Church of S. Fiorenzo in Perugia. The date MDV (1505) is inscribed in gold on the hem of the Virgin’s mantle.

The altarpiece would have consisted of the main panel, featuring the enthroned Virgin and Christ Child flanked by Saint Nicholas on the right and Saint John the Baptist on the left, and a lower horizontal set of painted panels collectively known as a predella. One of the two narrative scenes from the predella, Saint John the Baptist preaching, is also in the National Gallery’s collection. The other predella scene, which probably depicted a posthumous miracle of Saint Nicholas, is missing. Each narrative scene would have been positioned beneath the saint in the main panel to whom it related.

The Ansidei Madonna
The Ansidei Madonna
Raphael
This is the main panel of the altarpiece Raphael painted for the Ansidei family chapel in the Servite Church of S. Fiorenzo in Perugia in 1505.The Virgin sits in majesty on a carved wooden throne with the Christ Child on her lap. She draws his attention to a passage in the book on her knee. A str...
Room 11
Saint John the Baptist Preaching
Saint John the Baptist Preaching
Raphael
This painting is the only surviving scene from the predella (base) of Raphael’s altarpiece for the Ansidei chapel in S. Fiorenzo, Perugia. The main panel of the altarpiece, ‘The Ansidei Madonna’, is also in the National Gallery’s collection. This predella panel would have been placed beneath the...
Not on display

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