Click on any panel in the altarpiece reconstruction below to see an enlarged version of the image. Color reproductions in the reconstruction indicate panels in the National Gallery of Art collection.
Overview
This panel, along with
In this painting, John baptizes Christ in the Jordan River as two angels look on. Submerged up to his hips in the water, Christ inclines his head towards the Baptist, who reaches out to him from the rocky shore of the river. In this case, John places his hand on Jesus’s head rather than anointing him with water. As the Gospel (Matthew 3:13–17) reports: “when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him. He saw the spirit of God descending, and a voice said, 'This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.'"
Entry
This panel, along with its two companions
The altarpiece of Saint John the Baptist had evidently been dismantled by the first half of the nineteenth century, for by the 1840s fragments of it had begun to emerge on the art market.
Altarpieces in the elongated horizontal form of thirteenth-century dossals, approximately one meter (or a little more) in height and two and a half meters in width, such as the dismantled altarpiece of the Baptist being discussed here, are rare in Tuscany in the fourteenth century, but must have been fairly common in a region like Emilia Romagna.
With regard to the Madonna and Child, a motif for which the painters of Rimini had a special predilection was the cloth of honor supported by angels behind the Virgin’s throne
The precision in representing the insect
Several clues confirm the attribution of our panels to Giovanni Baronzio. First, there are clear analogies between the fragments of the altarpiece of Saint John and other works generally attributed to the artist, such as the solemn mantle-clad men to the right of our Birth of the Baptist and those of Christ before Pilate now in the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin, or the peculiar, splayed-leg pose of the Baptist in the baptism scene that recurs in the figure of Adam in Descent of Christ into Limbo, also in the Gemäldegalerie.
As for the date of our dismantled altarpiece, it may be placed in or shortly before the mid-fourth decade of the fourteenth century, on the basis of comparisons with the artist’s only signed and dated work.
The period that elapsed between the execution of the dismantled altarpiece of the Baptist and the panel now in Urbino cannot have been brief, but its duration is difficult to gauge given the lack of other securely datable works by Baronzio. A probable terminus post quem could be offered by the dossal now divided between the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica di Palazzo Barberini in Rome and the collection of the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio in Rimini; according to a plausible recent proposal, the dossal must have been commissioned for the high altar of the Franciscan church of Villa Verucchio and must date to c. 1330.
Miklós Boskovits (1935–2011)
March 21, 2016
Provenance
Possibly commissioned as part of the high altarpiece of a church dedicated to Saint John the Baptist in Emilia Romagna or in the Marche, Italy. Probably Monsignor Gabriele Laureani [d. 1849], Rome; Guilio Sterbini [d. 1911], Rome, by 1874;[1] Pasini collection, Rome, by 1924;[2] (Count Alessandro Contini Bonacossi, Florence); purchased June 1933 by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York;[3] gift 1939 to NGA.
Exhibition History
- 1932
- An Exhibition of Italian Paintings, Lent by Mr. Samuel H. Kress of New York to Museums, Colleges, and Associations, twenty-four venues in the United States, 1932-1935, no. 32.
- 1995
- Il Trecento Riminese: Maestri e botteghe tra Romagna e Marche, Museo della Città, Rimini, Italy, 1995-1996, no. 52, repro.
Technical Summary
The support is a panel made from a single piece of wood with horizontal grain. It has been thinned to approximately 1 cm, and
Bibliography
- 1874
- Farabulini, David. La pittura antica e moderna e la Galleria del Cav. Giulio Sterbini. Rome, 1874: 29.
- 1906
- Venturi, Adolfo. La Galleria Sterbini in Roma: saggio illustrativo. Rome, 1906: 48, 51 (repro.), 53.
- 1923
- Marle, Raimond van. The Development of the Italian Schools of Painting. 19 vols. The Hague, 1923-1938: 4(1924):288, repro. 291.
- 1928
- Lehman, Robert. The Philip Lehman Collection, New York: Paintings. Paris, 1928: no. LXXIV, repro.
- 1933
- Guida della Pinacoteca Vaticana. Musei e Gallerie Pontificie. Vatican City, 1933: 54.
- 1934
- Frankfurter, Alfred M. "Fine Italian Paintings from Kress Exhibition." Art News 32 (1934): 8, repro. 9.
- 1935
- An Exhibition of Italian Paintings Lent by Mr. Samuel H. Kress of New York to the Telfair Academy of Arts and Sciences. Exh. cat. Telfair Academy, Savannah, Georgia, n.d. (1935?): 32.
- 1935
- Salmi, Mario. "La scuola di Rimini, 3." Rivista del R. Istituto d'archeologia e storia dell’arte 5 (1935): 114, 125 n. 26.
- 1936
- Berenson, Bernard. Pitture italiane del rinascimento: catalogo dei principali artisti e delle loro opere con un indice dei luoghi. Translated by Emilio Cecchi. Milan, 1936: 37.
- 1936
- Brandi, Cesare. "Conclusioni su alcuni discussi problemi della pittura riminese del Trecento." Critica d’arte 1 (1936): 231 n. 18, 236-237.
- 1936
- Salmi, Mario. "Review of Conclusioni su alcuni discussi problemi della pittura riminese del Trecento by Cesare Brandi." Rivista d’arte 18 (1936): 413.
- 1941
- Coletti, Luigi. I Primitivi. 3 vols. Novara, 1941-1947: 3(1947):lxix n. 34.
- 1941
- Frankfurter, Alfred M. "On the Italian Renaissance Painters in the National Gallery." Art News 40 (15-31 March 1941): repro. 17.
- 1941
- National Gallery of Art. Book of Illustrations. Washington, 1941: 60 (repro.), 238.
- 1941
- Preliminary Catalogue of Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1941: 13, no. 242, as by Giovanni Baronzio.
- 1942
- Book of Illustrations. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 244, repro. 62, as by Giovanni Baronzio.
- 1945
- Paintings and Sculpture from the Kress Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1945 (reprinted 1947, 1949): 9, repro., as by Giovanni Baronzio.
- 1951
- Einstein, Lewis. Looking at Italian Pictures in the National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1951: 24 n. 1
- 1951
- Paintings and Sculpture from the Kress Collection Acquired by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation 1945-1951. Introduction by John Walker, text by William E. Suida. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1951: 36.
- 1951
- Toesca, Pietro. Il Trecento. Storia dell’arte italiana, 2. Turin, 1951: 730-731, repro 732.
- 1954
- Suida, Wilhelm. European Paintings and Sculpture from the Samuel H. Kress Collection. Seattle, 1954: 14.
- 1957
- Exposition de la Collection Lehman de New York. Exh. cat. Musée de l’Orangerie, Paris, 1957: 31-32.
- 1959
- Paintings and Sculpture from the Samuel H. Kress Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1959: 25, repro.
- 1963
- Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish): 297, repro.
- 1965
- Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 86.
- 1965
- Volpe, Carlo. La pittura riminese del Trecento. Milan, 1965: 38-39, 81, fig. 184.
- 1966
- Shapley, Fern Rusk. Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: Italian Schools, XIII-XV Century. London, 1966: 69, fig. 184.
- 1967
- Klesse, Brigitte. Seidenstoffe in der italienischen Malerei des 14. Jahrhunderts. Bern, 1967: 64, 187, 213, 281.
- 1968
- Berenson, Bernard. Italian Pictures of the Renaissance. Central Italian and North Italian Schools. 3 vols. London, 1968: 1:362.
- 1968
- National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 75, repro.
- 1970
- Seymour, Charles. Early Italian Paintings in the Yale University Art Gallery. New Haven and London, 1970: 108.
- 1972
- Fredericksen, Burton B., and Federico Zeri. Census of Pre-Nineteenth Century Italian Paintings in North American Public Collections. Cambridge, Mass., 1972: 130, 277, 645.
- 1975
- European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 222, repro.
- 1975
- Szabó, George. The Robert Lehman Collection: A Guide. New York, 1975: 25.
- 1978
- Kaftal, George, and Fabio Bisogni. Saints in Italian Art. Vol. 3 (of 4), Iconography of the Saints in the Painting of North East Italy. Florence, 1978: 520.
- 1979
- Shapley, Fern Rusk. Catalogue of the Italian Paintings. 2 vols. Washington, 1979: 1:316; 2:pl. 228.
- 1979
- Zuliani, Fulvio. "Tommaso da Modena." In Tomaso da Modena: catalogo. Edited by Luigi Menegazzi. Exh. cat. Convento di Santa Caterina, Capitolo dei Dominicani, Treviso, 1979: 105 n. 9.
- 1982
- Christiansen, Keith. "Fourteenth-Century Italian Altarpieces." Bulletin of the Metropolitan Museum of Art 40 (1982): 42, repro. 45.
- 1984
- Corbara, Antonio. "Il ciclo Francescano di Francesco da Rimini." Romagna arte e storia 4, no. 12 (1984): repro. 59.
- 1985
- European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 254, repro.
- 1986
- Castelnuovo, Enrico, ed. La Pittura in Italia. Il Duecento e il Trecento. Essays by Andrea Bacchi and Daniele Benati. 2 vols. Milan, 1986: 1:208; 2:611.
- 1987
- Pope-Hennessy, John, and Laurence B. Kanter. The Robert Lehman Collection. Vol. 1, Italian Paintings. New York, 1987: 86, repro. 289.
- 1989
- "Maestro della Vita del Battista." In Dizionario della pittura e dei pittori. Edited by Enrico Castelnuovo and Bruno Toscano. 6 vols. Turin, 1989-1994: 3(1992):430.
- 1990
- Pasini, Pier Giorgio. La pittura riminese del Trecento. Cinisello Balsamo (Milan), 1990: repro. 125.
- 1991
- Benati, Daniele. "Baronzio, Giovanni." In Enciclopedia dell’arte medievale. Edited by Istituto della Enciclopedia italiana. 12 vols. Rome, 1991-2002: 3(1992):121.
- 1991
- Freuler, Gaudenz, ed. Manifestatori delle cose miracolose: arte italiana del ’300 e ’400 da collezioni in Svizzera e nel Liechtenstein. Exh. cat. Villa Favorita, Fondazione Thyssen-Bornemisza, Lugano-Castagnola. Einsiedeln, 1991: 132.
- 1992
- Mancinelli, Fabrizio. "I dipinti della Pinacoteca dall’XI al XV secolo." In Pinacoteca Vaticana: nella pittura l’espressione del messaggio divino nella luce la radice della creazione pittorica. Edited by Umberto Baldini. Milan, 1992: 162-163.
- 1993
- Boskovits, Miklós. "Per la storia della pittura tra la Romagna e le Marche ai primi del ’300." Arte cristiana 81 (1993): 168-169.
- 1994
- Rossi, Francesco. Catalogo della Pinacoteca Vaticana, 3. Il Trecento: Umbria, Marche, Italia del Nord. Vatican City, 1994: 113-118, fig. 156.
- 1995
- Baetjer, Katharine. European Paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art by Artists Born before 1865. A Summary Catalogue. New York, 1995: 110.
- 1995
- Benati, Daniele, ed. Il Trecento riminese: Maestri e botteghe tra Romagna e Marche. Exh. cat. Museo della città, Rimini. Milan, 1995: 47, 55, 246, 248, 260, 264, 266, repro. 268-269.
- 1996
- Tambini, Anna. "In margine alla pittura riminese del Trecento." Studi romagnoli 47 (1996): 466.
- 1998
- Frinta, Mojmír S. Punched Decoration on Late Medieval Panel and Miniature Painting. Prague, 1998: 164.
- 2002
- Ragionieri, Giovanna. "Baronzio, Giovanni." In La pittura in Europa. Il Dizionario dei pittori. Edited by Carlo Pirovano. 3 vols. Milan, 2002: 1:53.
- 2005
- Laclotte, Michel, and Esther Moench. Peinture italienne: Musée du Petit Palais, Avignon. Paris, 2005: 63.
- 2006
- Benati, Daniele. "Il Dossale Corvisieri nel percorso di Giovanni Baronzio." L’Arco 4 (2006): 27.
- 2006
- Morozzi, Luisa. "Da Lasinio a Sterbini: ‘primitivi’ in una raccolta romana di secondo Ottocento." In AEIMNEΣTOΣ. Miscellanea di studi per Mauro Cristofani. 2 vols. Edited by Benedetta Adembri. Florence, 2006: 2:912, 916 n. 50.
- 2008
- Ferrara, Daniele, ed. Giovanni Baronzio e la pittura a Rimini nel Trecento. Exh. cat. Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica, Rome. Cinisello Balsamo (near Milan), 2008: 31, 106.
- 2016
- Boskovits, Miklós. Italian Paintings of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries. The Systematic Catalogue of the National Gallery of Art. Washington, 2016: 159-175, color repro.
Related Content
Altarpiece Reconstruction

Reconstruction of a dispersed altarpiece by Giovanni Baronzio as proposed by Keith Christiansen (1982)
a. Annunciation of the Birth of the Baptist (Entry fig. 2)
b.
c. Young Baptist Led by an Angel into the Wilderness (Entry fig. 3)
d. The Baptist Interrogated by the Pharisees (Entry fig. 4)
e.
f.
g. The Baptist Sends His Disciples to Christ (Entry fig. 5)
h. Feast of Herod (Entry fig. 6)
i. The Baptist’s Descent into Limbo (Entry fig. 7)