Saint John the Baptist (Titian)

1540 painting by Titian

Saint John the Baptist

Artist| Titian
Year| 1540
Medium| oil on canvas
Dimensions| 201 cm × 134 cm (79 in × 53 in)
Location| Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice

Saint John the Baptist is an oil on canvas painting by Titian, from c. 1540\. It depicts Saint John the Baptist with his traditional attributes of the Lamb of God and a staff. It was part of a former altarpiece. It is part of the collection of the Gallerie dell'Accademia, in Venice.[1]

In the background of the painting is a landscape with the river Jordan, where Jesus was baptised.

## History

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The painting adorned the altar of San Giovanni in the now extinct church of Santa Maria Maggiore, in Venice, from where it was removed and transferred to the Accademia, in 1807. There is no documentation on the dating of the altarpiece, but it is dated between the 1530s, for stylistic reasons, and 1557, the year in which it was described by Ludovico Dolce.

The work is also cited in the second edition of Giorgio Vasari's Lives (1568): "He made a painting of Saint John the Baptist in the desert among certain rocks for the church of Santa Maria Maggiore" (VI, 160)."

A plausible date seems to be 1540, in the period where the dialogue with the Tuscan-Roman "manner" was most intense. These stylistic features were appreciated by Vasari and Dolce, but not by some of the more modern critics: Roberto Longhi criticized a certain academicism (1946), Pallucchini spoke of "stagnation in the formulation of that muscular and evidently posed image"[2]

## Description

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The statuesque figure of John the Baptist stands out in the center of the altarpiece, while he raises his arm in his typical gesture of indicating Jesus; in this case it was the Sacrament in the central altar of the church. Half-naked, dressed in his hermit's animal skin and holding the staff of reeds tied to form a cross, he is accompanied by the typical attribute of the lamb and immersed in a wooded landscape. On the left, a cliff cuts vertically across the canvas and highlights, the figure of the Baptist, with its dark profile, giving depth to the entire composition. On the right, the view moves away in depth towards a waterfall, some leafy trees, mountains and thick clouds. The stream recalls John's baptismal mission. To make the protagonist stand out as much as possible, Titian uses a particularly low horizon, as had already been done before him.[3]

The muscularity of the torso, the anatomy of the arm contracted in the gesture of raising himself, the plasticity of the powerful legs, the eloquence of the pose stand out in the depiction of the saint; they are all stylistic elements derived from a reinterpretation of classical art and above all from a long-distance dialogue with the art of Michelangelo and his followers, who in those years influenced the debate and artistic production of Italy and beyond. Titian was in fact seeking in those years a synthesis between the Tuscan tradition of drawing and plastic setting, and the Venetian tradition of rich chromatic orchestration. In this work, in fact, the dense and vibrant chromatic mixture, the brilliant tones and the richness of light effects stands out, after being enhanced by the 1981 restoration.[4]

## See also

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* List of works by Titian

## References

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1. ^ "Saint John the Baptist | Gallerie dell'Accademia di Venezia". Saint John the Baptist | Gallerie dell'Accademia di Venezia. Retrieved 2024-11-18.
2. ^ "Saint John the Baptist | Gallerie dell'Accademia di Venezia". Saint John the Baptist | Gallerie dell'Accademia di Venezia. Retrieved 2024-11-18.
3. ^ Cecilia Gibellini (coordinator), Tiziano, I Classici dell'arte, Milan, Rizzoli, 2003 (Italian)
4. ^ Francesco Valcanover, L'opera completa di Tiziano, Milan, Rizzoli, 1969 (Italian)

## Bibliography

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* (in Polish) Marion Kaminski "Sztuka i architektura Wenecja, wyd Wydawnictwo Olesiejuk ISBN 978-3-8331-2315-3

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Titian

* List of works

Portraits|

* Jacopo Pesaro being presented by Pope Alexander VI to Saint Peter (1503–1506)
* A Man with a Quilted Sleeve (c. 1509)
* La Schiavona (1510–1512)
* A Man
* New York, c. 1512)
* (Indianapolis, c. 1515
* Shepherd with a Flute (c. 1510–1515)
* A Man in a Red Cap (c. 1510–1515)
* A Sick Man (1515)
* A Knight of Malta (c. 1515)
* Jacopo Sannazaro (c. 1514–1518)
* Gian Giacomo Bartolotti da Parma (c. 1515-1518)
* Vincenzo Mosti (c. 1520)
* Young Woman in a Black Dress (c. 1520)
* Man with a Glove (c. 1520)
* Laura Dianti (c. 1520–1525)
* Alfonso I d'Este (1523)
* A Lady (c. 1525–1565)
* Federico II Gonzaga (c. 1529)
* Giacomo di Andrea Dolfin (c. 1531–1532)
* Alfonso d'Avalos with a Page (1533)
* Charles V with a Dog (1533)
* Ippolito de' Medici (1532–1533)
* Giacomo Doria (1533–1535)
* Charles V (1533–1535)
* Isabella d'Este (1534–1536)
* La Bella (1536)
* Girl in a Fur (1536–1538)
* Count Antonio Porcia and Brugnera (c. 1535–1540)
* A Man with a Falcon (c. 1525-1537)
* Eleonora Gonzaga della Rovere (1538)
* Francesco Maria della Rovere (1536-1538)
* Cardinal Pietro Bembo (1539–1540)
* Benedetto Varchi (c. 1540)
* Pope Sixtus IV (c. 1540)
* A Young Englishman (1540–1545)
* Ranuccio Farnese (c. 1542)
* Clarissa Strozzi (1542)
* The Vendramin Family (1543–1547)
* Pietro Aretino (1545)
* Lavinia Vecellio (c. 1545)
* Pope Paul III (1545–1546)
* Pope Paul III with Camauro (1545–1546)
* Pope Paul III and His Grandsons (1545–1546)
* Cardinal Alessandro Farnese (c. 1545–1546)
* Pier Luigi Farnese (1546)
* Andrea Gritti (c. 1546–1550)
* Equestrian Portrait of Charles V (1548)
* Charles V (seated) (1548)
* Isabella of Portugal (1548)
* John Frederick I, Elector of Saxony (c. 1550–1551)
* A General (c. 1550)
* Philip II in Armour (1551)
* Cardinal Cristoforo Madruzzo (1552)
* Philip II (1554)
* Woman Holding an Apple (c. 1550–1555)
* Girl with a Platter of Fruit (c. 1555–1558)
* Fabrizio Salvaresio (1558)
* An Unknown Lady (c. 1550–1560  – also attributed to Titian's workshop)
* Jacopo Strada (1567–1568)
* A Lady in White (c. 1561)

Self portraits|

* Self-Portrait (1546–1547)
* Self-Portrait (c. 1560)

Secular|

* Detroit Trio (c. 1500 – also attributed to Giorgione and others)
* The Birth of Adonis (c. 1506–1508)
* The Legend of Polydoros (c. 1506–1508)
* Justice (c. 1508)
* Pastoral Concert (c. 1509 – also attributed to Giorgione)
* Dresden Venus (with Giorgione, c. 1510)
* The Lovers (c. 1510 – attributed)
* The Three Ages of Man (c. 1512–1514)
* Sacred and Profane Love (c. 1514)
* The Feast of the Gods (1514)
* Venus and Cupid (1510–1515)
* Lucretia and her Husband Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus (1515)
* The Bravo (c. 1515)
* Flora (c. 1515)
* Vanity (c. 1515)
* Violante (c. 1515)
* Woman with a Mirror (c. 1515)
* The Worship of Venus (1518–19)
* Venus Anadyomene (c. 1520)
* Bacchus and Ariadne (1520–1523)
* The Bacchanal of the Andrians (1523–1526)
* Allegory of Marriage (c. 1530–1535)
* Eleven Caesars (1536–1540)
* Venus of Urbino (1538)
* Alfonso d'Avalos Addressing his Troops (1540)
* Venus and Musician (several versions, 1540s–1570s)
* Tityus (1549)
* Sisyphus (1549)
* Danaë (several versions; 1543–1565)
* Venus and Adonis (several versions)
* Mars, Venus and Amor (c. 1550)
* Pardo Venus (1551)
* Venus with a Mirror (1555)
* Perseus and Andromeda (1554–1556)
* Diana and Actaeon (1556–1559)
* Diana and Callisto (1556–1559)
* The Death of Actaeon (c. 1559–1575)
* The Rape of Europa (c. 1560–1562)
* The Concert (c. 1543–1564)
* Venus Blindfolding Cupid (c. 1565)
* Allegory of Prudence (c. 1565–1570)
* Nymph and Shepherd (c. 1570)
* Tarquin and Lucretia (comp. 1571)
* Flaying of Marsyas (1570–1576)

Religious|

* Christ Carrying the Cross  (c. 1505 – also attributed to Giorgione)
* Bache Madonna (c. 1508)
* Flight into Egypt (c. 1508
* Rest on the Flight into Egypt (c. 1508)
* Lochis Madonna (1508–1510)
* Saint Mark Enthroned (c. 1510)
* The Gypsy Madonna (c. 1510)
* Holy Family with a Shepherd (c. 1510)
* Christ and the Adulteress
* Glasgow, c. 1510)
* (Vienna, c. 1520
* Virgin and Child Between Saints Anthony of Padua and Roch (c. 1511)
* The Resurrected Christ (c. 1511–12)
* Baptism of Christ (c. 1512)
* Virgin and Child with Saints Stephen, Jerome and Maurice (Paris; c. 1510–1525)
* Miracle of the Jealous Husband (1511)
* Balbi Holy Conversation (c. 1513)
* Noli me tangere (c. 1514)
* The Archangel Raphael and Tobias (c. 1512–1514; c. 1540–1545)
* Salome
* Rome, c. 1515)
* (Madrid, c. 1550)
* (Private, c. 1570
* Madonna of the Cherries (1515)
* The Tribute Money (c. 1516)
* Assumption of the Virgin (1516–1518)
* The Virgin and Child with Saint George and Saint Dorothy (1516–1518)
* Virgin and Child with Saint John the Baptist and an Unidentified Saint (c. 1515–1520)
* Madonna and Child with Four Saints (c. 1516–1520)
* Pesaro Madonna (1519–1526)
* Virgin and Child with Saints Anthony Abbot, Jerome and Francis (c. 1519)
* Gozzi Altarpiece (1520)
* Virgin and Child with Saints Stephen, Jerome and Maurice (Vienna; c. 1520)
* Malchiostro Annunciation (c. 1520)
* The Entombment of Christ (c. 1520)
* Averoldi Polyptych (1520–1522)
* Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata (1525)
* The Assassination of Saint Peter Martyr (1529)
* Aldobrandini Madonna (1530)
* Madonna of the Rabbit (1530)
* Madonna of the Roses (c. 1530)
* Penitent Magdalene (1531)
* Saint Jerome in Penitence (1531)
* Pilgrims at Emmaus (c. 1533–1534)
* Supper at Emmaus (c. 1534; c. 1545)
* The Presentation of the Virgin at the Temple (1534–1538)
* Saint John the Baptist (1540)
* Sciarra Madonna (c. 1540)
* The Crowning with Thorns (1542–43)
* Ecce Homo
* Vienna, 1543
* David and Goliath (c. 1542–1544)
* Abraham and Isaac (c. 1543–1544)
* Cain and Abel (c. 1543–1545)
* Serravalle Altarpiece (1548)
* Castello Roganzuolo Altarpiece (1549)
* The Fall of Man (c. 1550)
* Penitent Magdalene (c. 1550)
* Saint Jerome in Penitence (1552)
* The Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence (c. 1548–1559)
* La Gloria (1554)
* Christ Appearing to his Mother after his Resurrection (1554)
* Mater Dolorosa with Clasped Hands (c. 1555)
* Saint Jerome in Penitence (1575)
* Crucifixion (1558)
* The Entombment (1559)
* Saint Margaret and the Dragon (c. 1559)
* Annunciation (1559–1564)
* Madonna and Child with Saints Luke and Catherine of Alexandria (c. 1560)
* Penitent Magdalene (1565)
* Saint Dominic (c. 1565)
* Judith with the Head of Holofernes (c. 1570)
* Religion saved by Spain (1572–1575)
* Saint Sebastian (c. 1575)
* The Crowning with Thorns (1576)
* Pietà (1576)

Museums|

* Casa natale di Tiziano Vecellio

Related|

* Orazio Vecellio (son)
* Francesco Vecellio (brother)
* Cesare Vecellio (cousin)
* Marco Vecellio (nephew)
* Girolamo di Tiziano (disciple)
* Titian (crater)

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