John the Baptist

myminifactory

This marble work, titled 'John the Baptist', is a masterpiece created by Andrea Bregno (1418-1503). John the Baptist was a prominent Hebrew itinerant preacher in the early 1st Century AD. Christians, Muslims, and followers of the Baha'i Faith revere him as a leading religious figure, often referring to him as a prophet. The high-relief style of this sculpture is remarkably similar to another piece in The SMK's collection featuring The Holy Hieronymus (DEP36). A nearly identical version of The Holy Hieronymus by the same artist can be found at The Tabernacle of Alexander VI in Rome's Sacrisity, S. Maria del Popolo (1473); the relief of John the Baptist is also virtually indistinguishable from the sculpture of the same name at the Piccolomini altar in the Cathedral of Siena (1481-85). The auction catalogue where this work originated lists it and DEP36 as part of a tombstone, and according to G. Carlo Sciolla in Arte Lombarda, XV, 1970, pp. 52 et seq., this is connected to Cardinal da Cusa's tomb in Rome, S. Pietro in Vincoli, which is considered the earliest work of the artist in Rome.