John the Baptist

myminifactory

This portrait of John the Baptist was sculpted by an unknown artist from Tuscany. In his hand the saint holds a lamb, a common attribute to John the Baptist. He was represented with a lamb to symbolise his recognition of Jesus as the Son of God as when Jesus is baptised John states "Behold, the lamb of God" (John 1:36). The work was created in the first quarter of the 16th Century. The bust holds similar stylistic resemblance to the sculpture 'A Saint with a Book (Paul)' housed at the Statens Museum for Kunst, also from an unknown artist.