Zanobi Machiavelli, 'Saint John the Baptist and Saint John the Evangelist', probably about 1470

Saint John the Baptist stands next to Saint John the Evangelist on a tilted floor. It is John the Baptist, identified by his camel hair shirt and cross staff, who makes direct eye contact with the viewer. In his left hand he clutches a scroll with the inscription: ECCE AGN[US DEI QUI TOLLIS] PE[CCATA MUNDI, MISERERE NOBIS] (‘Behold the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world’) (John 1:29). This is what the saint said to Christ following Christ’s baptism in the River Jordan.

Much like his left foot here, which extends beyond the ledge of the platform, John the Baptist stood on the threshold between the Old Testament and the New Testament. As the last prophet of the Old Testament, he delivered God’s divine message to the people of Israel. He is joined by John the Evangelist, one of the Twelve Apostles. The quill he uses to write in the red book he holds refers to his role as the four authors of the Gospels – in fact, the inscription on John the Baptist’s scroll is taken from John 1: 29. The black eagle at the Evangelist’s feet is his traditional symbol.

This panel is a fragment of the same altarpiece to which Saint Mark and Saint Augustine belongs. The orientation of its figures suggests that they were originally on the left-hand side of the central image, with Saints Mark and Augustine on the right. The lost or unidentified central panel is likely to have shown the Virgin Mary and Christ Child. If that’s the case, the tilted floor probably continued seamlessly across all the panels, but it’s also possible that a sculpture formed the centre of this ensemble. It has also been suggested that The Virgin and Child appeared at the centre of this altarpiece.

While nothing is known about the original layout and context of these panels, the inclusion of Saint Augustine on one of them suggests that they were originally in an Augustinian foundation. Some scholars have suggested that they came from the Florentine church of S. Spirito, but there is little evidence in support of this claim. Another possibility is that they came from the Tuscan hilltop town of Montepulciano, where they were recorded in a private collection in the early nineteenth century. Montepulciano is home to an important Augustinian church – but Zanobi Machiavelli is not documented in that city. In the past it has been said that these two panels formed part of the same altarpiece as three other panels by Machiavelli, but their shapes and sizes do not match.