The Young Saint John the Baptist
c. 1470
Artist, Florentine, 1427 - 1479
Like Desiderio, Antonio Rossellino probably came from Settignano. He was the most accomplished sculptor among five brothers, all trained in the important workshop led by the eldest brother Bernardo. Widespread admiration for Antonio's skill may explain why his nickname Rossellino, "little redhead," came to be attached to all his brothers, replacing the family name Gambarelli.
John the Baptist, portrayed by Antonio in this graceful bust, was a patron saint of the city of Florence and a favorite figure in Florentine painting and sculpture. The Florentine theologian, Cardinal Giovanni Dominici, recommended around 1410 that parents display images of the Christ Child and the young John together in their homes, as religious and moral examples for their children. When it was first made, this bust may have served just such a purpose in a Florentine home. But for at least the 180 years before 1940, it was in a Florentine religious building, the oratory of San Francesco of the Vanchettoni, together with Desiderio da Settignano's bust of the Christ Child, now exhibited in the same gallery. The Desiderio boy is considerably younger, with plump cheeks and silky hair; Rossellino's John is close to adolescence. His richly waving curls and the fine curving lines of his lips suggest the beauty of a young classical god.
West Building Main Floor, Gallery 6
Artwork overview
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Medium
marble
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Credit Line
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Dimensions
overall: 34.7 x 29.8 x 16.1 cm (13 11/16 x 11 3/4 x 6 5/16 in.)
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Accession
1943.4.79
Artwork history & notes
Provenance
Oratory of S. Francesco dei Vanchettoni, Florence, before 1756;[1] sold 1940 to Eugenio Venturi, Florence, probably for (Duveen Brothers, Inc., London, New York, and Paris);[2] purchased 1942 by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York;[3] gift 1943 to NGA.
[1] Giuseppe Richa, Notizie storiche delle chiese fiorentine, 10 vols., Florence, 1754-1762: 4(1756):92, as by Donatello. This bust and the bust The Christ Child (?) (NGA 1943.4.94) were each placed in a niche above a side door on either side of the high altar. The doors both led into the "Relic Room." The busts were seen there and listed as by Donatello in numerous Florence guidebooks until they were sold.
[2] Walter Paatz, Die Kirchen von Florenz: Ein Kunstgeschichtliches Handbuch, 6 vols., Frankfurt, 1940: 2:137, no.16.
[3] Documents from the Kress Foundation, now in NGA curatorial files, indicate that the Foundation was considering the acquisition of the sculpture as early as 1940.
Associated Names
Exhibition History
1985
Italian Renaissance Sculpture in the Time of Donatello, Detroit Institute of Arts; Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas; Forte Belvedere, Florence, Italy, 1985-1986, no. 56 (English cat.), no. 93 (Italian cat.), repro.
2018
The Sculpture of Giovan Angelo Montorsorli and his Circle: Myth and Faith in Renaissance Florence, Currier Museum of Art, Manchester, New Hampshire, 2018-2019.
Bibliography
1943
Swarzenski, Georg. "Some Aspects of Italian Quattrocento Sculpture in the National Gallery." Gazette des Beaux-Arts 6th series, 24 (November 1943): 290 fig. 6, 292.
1944
Duveen Brothers, Inc. Duveen Sculpture in Public Collections of America: A Catalog Raisonné with illustrations of Italian Renaissance Sculptures by the Great Masters which have passed through the House of Duveen. New York, 1944: figs. 102-104.
1945
Paintings and Sculpture from the Kress Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1945 (reprinted 1947, 1949): 179, repro., as Saint John the Baptist.
1949
Seymour, Charles. Masterpieces of Sculpture from the National Gallery of Art. Washington and New York, 1949: 176, note 21, repro. 80-81.
1957
Shapley, Fern Rusk. Comparisons in Art: A Companion to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. London, 1957 (reprinted 1959): pl. 67.
1959
Paintings and Sculpture from the Samuel H. Kress Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1959: 400, repro.
1961
Walker, John, Guy Emerson, and Charles Seymour. Art Treasures for America: An Anthology of Paintings & Sculpture in the Samuel H. Kress Collection. London, 1961: 39, repro.
1965
Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 170.
1968
National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 150, repro.
1976
Middeldorf, Ulrich. Sculptures from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: European Schools XIV-XIX Century. London, 1976: 23.
1984
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 626, no. 968, repro.
1992
National Gallery of Art, Washington. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 287, repro.
1994
Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1994: 212, repro.
1997
Fulton, Christopher. "The Boy Stripped Bare by His Elders: Art and Adolescence in Renaissance Florence." Art Journal 56, 2 (Summer 1997): 32, fig. 2.
2000
National Gallery of Art Special Issue. Connaissance des Arts. Paris, 2000:59.
2007
Pisani, Linda. "San Giovannino Battista nei busti del Rinascimento Florentino." In Jeanette Kohl and Rebecca Müller, eds. Kopf/Bild: Die Büste in Mittelalter und Frïher Neuzeit. (I Mandorli 6) Munich and Berlin, 2007: 221, 231, no. 7.
2013
Langhanke, Birgit. Die Madonnenreliefs im Werk von Antonio Rossellino. Ph.D. diss. Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich, 2013: 99, n. 80.
Wikidata ID
Q63809213