Saint John the Baptist (Leonardo)

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Saint John the Baptist
ArtistLeonardo da Vinci
Year1513–1516
MediumOil on walnut wood
Dimensions69 cm × 57 cm (27.16 in × 22.44 in)
LocationLouvre Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi

Saint John the Baptist is a High Renaissance oil painting on walnut wood by Leonardo da Vinci. Likely to have been completed between 1513 and 1516, it is believed to be his final painting. Its original size was 69 by 57 centimetres (27 in × 22 in).

The painting is in the collection of the Louvre. In November 2022, it was loaned to Louvre Abu Dhabi for two years as part of the museum's fifth anniversary.[1]

Subject matter

The work depicts the figure of

Burlington House Cartoon. According to Frank Zöllner, Leonardo's use of sfumato "conveys the religious content of the picture", with the "gentle shadows [imbuing] the subject's skin tones with a very soft, delicate appearance, almost androgynous in its effect".[2]

grace from God."[4]

The model for the John the Baptist / Bacchus / Angelo incarnato series was Salaì.[5]

Dating

The dating of Saint John the Baptist is disputed.[6] It was seen by Antonio de Beatis in Leonardo's workshop at Clos Lucé;[7] his diary entry giving a terminus ante quem of 17 October 1517.

Traditionally, the painting has been considered the artist's last, and has been dated to 1513–1516; Leonardo's sfumato technique here being considered to have reached its apogee.[6] Some experts, however, have compared the hand of Saint John to a similar work by a pupil in the Codex Atlanticus, dating the commencement of the picture to around 1509.[6] The pose is also similar to that of a sculpture of the same subject completed after 1510 for the Florence Baptistery by Giovanni Francesco Rustici.[8] Leonardo is thought to have given Rustici technical advice for his commission; it is possible that one artist could have influenced the other with the idea for the pose.[9]

Provenance

Saint John the Baptist was apparently part of the French king

Eberhard Jabach.[6] After a spell in the possession of Cardinal Mazarin, in 1661 the work once again returned to the King of France – Louis XIV. Following the French Revolution, the painting entered the collection at the Louvre, where it remains to this day.[6]

Influence

Prior to this work, Saint John had traditionally been portrayed as a gaunt ascetic. Leonardo's innovative depiction proved influential upon Raphael's workshop; several portraits of Saint John painted around 1517–1518 attributed to Raphael and Giulio Romano show a similarly youthful saint in isolation, with a strong contrast between the dark background and the illumination of the figure.[10]

Also numerous copies and variations of Saint John the Baptist made by Leonardeschi exist.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Louvre Abu Dhabi welcomes arrival of Leonardo da Vinci". The National. 2022-11-07. Retrieved 2022-11-07.
  2. ISBN 9783822859797
    .
  3. ISBN 9780815329350
    .
  4. ^ Barolsky, Paul. Leonardo Da Vinci, Selected Scholarship: Leonardo's projects, c. 1500–1519. p. 394.
  5. OCLC 500794484
    .
  6. ^ a b c d e f Frank Zöllner. Leonardo da Vinci: The Complete Paintings. p. 248.
  7. ISBN 9780815329336
    .
  8. ^ Decker, Heinrich (1969) [1967]. The Renaissance in Italy: Architecture • Sculpture • Frescoes. New York: The Viking Press. p. 26.
  9. ^ Wallace, Robert (1972) [1966]. The World of Leonardo: 1452–1519. New York: Time-Life Books. p. 147.
  10. ISBN 9783822859797
    .
  11. OCLC 500794484
    .

External links
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