Italian school; 17th century.

Italian school; XVII century.
"St. John the Baptist".
Oil on copper.
It has slight flaws in the pictorial surface and restorations.
Measurements: 36 x 27 cm.
In this copper Saint John the Baptist is presented in full body, turned to his right, covered by a red mantle that alludes to his martyrdom and carrying others the cross of reeds with a phylactery, this last one hardly discernible. The artist gives great prominence to the figure of the Saint, in a practically individual, delicate and resounding way. The quality of the finishes is excellent, the subtlety of the folding of the red mantle, with the play of light and shadows that configure the volume in a fluid and natural way, the flesh tones that show a naturalistic study of anatomy and the dramatic expression of the face are examples of the artistic skill of the painter. A specific feature of this painting is the presence of the lamb, usual in the iconography of the saint, but in this case it is shown in a break of Glory, thus representing the figure of Christ from the heavens.
As for the iconography of the saint, the Gospels say of John the Baptist that he was the son of the priest Zechariah and Elizabeth, cousin of the Virgin Mary. He retired very young to the desert of Judea to lead an ascetic life and preach penance, and recognized in Jesus, who was baptized by him, the Messiah announced by the prophets. A year after the baptism of Christ, in the year 29, John was arrested and imprisoned by the tetrarch of Galilee Herod Antipas, whose marriage with Herodias, his niece and sister-in-law, he had dared to censure. Finally St. John was beheaded, and his head given to Salome as a reward for his beautiful dances. This saint appears in Christian art with two different aspects: as a child, a playmate of Jesus, and as an adult, an ascetic preacher. The adult St. John that we see here appears dressed in oriental art with a camel skin sackcloth, which in the West was replaced with a sheepskin that leaves his arms, legs and part of his torso bare. The red cloak he wears at times, as well as in the scene of his intercession at the Last Judgment, alludes to his martyrdom. In Byzantine art he is depicted as a large-winged angel, with his severed head on a tray which he holds in his hands. However, his attributes in Western art are very different. The most frequent is a lamb, which alludes to Jesus Christ, and he often carries a cross of reeds with a phylactery with the inscription "Ecce Agnus Dei".