Attributed to Juan Bautista Maíno

ATTRIBUTED TO JUAN BAUTISTA MAÍNO (Pastrana, Guadalajara, 1581–Madrid, 1649).
“St. John the Baptist in the Desert.” First third of the 17th century.
Oil on canvas.
Accompanied by a historical-artistic study by Ignacio González Panicello, art historian and restorer of old master paintings, dated July 22, 2025, in which he proposes attributing the work to Juan Bautista Maíno, linking it to his training in Italy and to pictorial models by Francesco Curradi.
Measurements: 102 x 77 cm; 120 x 94 cm (frame).

This painting, attributed to Juan Bautista Maíno by Ignacio González Panicello, offers an interesting testament to the profound transformation undergone by Spanish painting in the early 17th century, when the models of Caravaggist naturalism and Italian classicism began to renew the artistic language of the Iberian Peninsula. Its significance lies particularly in the connection the study establishes with Maíno’s training in Rome—he was one of the principal introducers of Italian pictorial innovations in Spain—as well as in its link to a composition by Francesco Curradi of which several versions are known.

The study identifies three closely related paintings depicting Saint John the Baptist in a virtually identical arrangement. One of them, the largest, was sold with attributions to Francesco Curradi; another version had circulated on the international market as a work by Domenico Cresti, known as il Passignano. González Panicello proposes that the prototype of the composition was created by Curradi and that Maíno may have become acquainted with it during his stay in Italy, reinterpreting it through a style closer to Caravaggist naturalism and the classicism of the Carracci. This hypothesis is particularly significant for understanding the process of assimilating Italian models that characterized Maíno’s painting.

The connection to Francesco Curradi is not limited to compositional similarity. The researcher points out that certain human types and formal solutions employed by the Florentine painter find parallels in other works of his oeuvre. Furthermore, he relates the seated posture of John the Baptist to models from classical sculpture, particularly to the depiction of Apollo the Lyre-Player housed in the Museo Nazionale Romano at the Palazzo Altemps. This reference allows us to situate the composition’s origin within the interest in antiquity that characterized Italian artistic culture during the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods.

The proposed attribution to Maíno is based particularly on the interpretation of the landscape and on certain characteristics of the figure. González Panicello highlights the affinities between the natural setting of this painting and that of the landscape compositions by Maíno, particularly *Landscape with Saint John the Baptist*, housed in the Museo Nacional del Prado, and *Landscape with the Penitent Mary Magdalene*, from a private collection. In these works, one can see the influence of Annibale Carracci’s Bolognese classicism, combined with a sensitivity to atmospheric and lighting effects reminiscent of the Northern European painters active in Rome, such as Adam Elsheimer. These connections are particularly significant because they allow us to link the work to a facet of Maíno’s oeuvre that is less well known than his large-scale religious compositions.

The researcher also draws comparisons with other works by the artist, including *The Trinity*, housed in the Church of Our Lady of the Conception in Pastrana, and *Doña Ana Hernández with Saint John the Baptist*, from the Miranda altarpiece in the same town. The similarities noted pertain to the anatomical treatment, the arrangement of the limbs, and the depiction of the saint’s clothing. These parallels provide additional grounds for linking the painting to Maíno’s figurative repertoire and to the classical training he received during his time in Italy.

The possibility that the work was painted during Maíno’s stay in Rome is one of the most intriguing hypotheses put forward by the study. The painter is documented as having been in the city during the years 1609 and 1610, in an artistic milieu marked by the extraordinary influence of Caravaggio and by the work of masters such as Orazio Gentileschi, Carlo Saraceni, and the followers of Annibale Carracci. González Panicello believes that the similarity of this composition to a Florentine model could indicate that Maíno had direct access to it during his stay in Italy. However, he also considers the possibility that the painting was executed shortly after his return to Spain. Consequently, its exact date of creation remains open to interpretation.

Juan Bautista Maíno occupies a pivotal position in the history of Spanish painting during the first third of the 17th century. Born in Pastrana to a family of international origin, he received a significant part of his training in Italy, where he experienced firsthand the innovations of Caravaggist naturalism and Roman-Bolognese classicism. Upon his return to Spain, his painting introduced a new conception of light, color, and the representation of the human figure, combining naturalistic observation with remarkable formal elegance.
In 1612, he was commissioned to paint the main altarpiece for the Convent of San Pedro Mártir in Toledo, a pivotal body of work in his career, whose principal compositions are currently housed in the Museo Nacional del Prado. He later joined the Order of Preachers and became actively involved in Madrid’s court circles. His prestige led him to serve as drawing instructor to the future Philip IV. Among his best-known works is *The Recapture of Bahía de Todos los Santos*, created for the Hall of Kingdoms in the Buen Retiro Palace and now housed in the Prado; it is one of the great historical compositions of 17th-century Spanish painting.