Saint John the Baptist
Primary
Jacopo Bassano (Jacopo da Ponte)
(Bassano del Grappa, Italy, circa 1510–1592)
NationalityItalian, Europe
Datecirca 1542 - 1545
MediumOil on canvas
DimensionsCanvas: 43 x 28 1/4 in. (109.2 x 71.8 cm)
Credit LineBlanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin, The Suida-Manning Collection, 2017.895
Keywords
Rights Statement
Collection AreaEuropean Painting and Sculpture
Object number2017.895
On View
On viewLocations
Label Text- exhibition BMA, Gallery, A5
Cut out from a larger canvas, this painting represents John the Baptist turning his gaze toward the spectator. The saint’s truncated forearm and the direction of his pose, among other elements, suggest that this fragment once formed the right part of a composition, which likely featured the Madonna and Child in the center; there would have been another saint on the left. The farmhouses with thatched roofs in the background demonstrate the painter’s well-known tendency to incorporate rustic elements in religious paintings.
The figure’s right eye, left knee, and left foot are reconstructions completed in 2009.