Bidspirit auction | Roman Italian Baroque Master of

Roman Italian Baroque Master of the 17th - 18th Centuries - Saint John the Baptist, possibly Rome - Oil on canvas. Dimensions: 85 x 63 cm. This work depicts Saint John the Baptist seated on rocks, in a reclining posture but with a clear expressive intention. His right arm is raised in a haughty and solemn gesture, while with the other hand he holds the characteristic cruciform staff with the phylactery that reads ”Agnus Dei.” At his feet rests a lamb, a symbol of Christ's sacrifice, rendered with great finesse and naturalism. The treatment of the body, the restrained palette, and the structured composition recall the classicist idiom developed by Anton Raphael Mengs, one of the leading representatives of Roman Neoclassicism. The scene bears notable similarities to Saint John the Baptist Preaching, preserved in the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, both in the disposition of the figure and in the serene and monumental atmosphere. For these reasons, it is plausible to attribute this painting to a Roman follower of Mengs, and it could even be a work executed in the artist's own workshop. There are also certain similarities with the work of Guercino. Provenance: Roman private collection