Saint John the Baptist
1514
oil
panel
From the collection of Department of Paintings of the Louvre
1514
oil
panel
From the collection of Department of Paintings of the Louvre
Dominant colour
Saint John the Baptist is a 1514 oil by Leonardo da Vinci, a High Renaissance work, depicting John the Baptist, held at Department of Paintings of the Louvre.
This painting is called Saint John the Baptist. It's an oil painting created by Leonardo da Vinci. The painting is believed to have been completed between 1513 and 1516. It's also thought to be Leonardo da Vinci's final painting, which makes it a significant work. To learn more about the style and methods used in this painting, look up the technique of glazing.
Saint John the Baptist is a High Renaissance oil painting on walnut wood by Leonardo da Vinci. Likely to have been completed between 1513 and 1516, it is believed to be his final painting. Its original size was 69 by 57 centimetres (27 in × 22 in). The painting is in the permanent collection of the Louvre. In November 2022, it was loaned to Louvre Abu Dhabi for two years as part of the museum's fifth anniversary.
Source: wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
The work depicts the figure of John the Baptist in isolation through the use of chiaroscuro, with the figure appearing to emerge from the shadowy background. The saint is dressed in furs, has long curly hair and is smiling in an enigmatic manner reminiscent of Leonardo's famous Mona Lisa. He holds a reed cross in his left hand, while his right hand points up toward heaven, similar to the figure of Saint Anne in Leonardo's Burlington House Cartoon. According to Frank Zöllner, Leonardo's use of sfumato "conveys the religious content of the picture", with the "gentle shadows [imbuing] the…
Source: wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
The dating of Saint John the Baptist is disputed. It was seen by Antonio de Beatis in Leonardo's workshop at Clos Lucé; his diary entry giving a terminus ante quem of 17 October 1517. Traditionally, the painting has been considered the artist's last, and has been dated to 1513–1516; Leonardo's sfumato technique here being considered to have reached its apogee. Some experts, however, have compared the hand of Saint John to a similar work by a pupil in the Codex Atlanticus, dating the commencement of the picture to around 1509. The pose is also similar to that of a sculpture of the same subject…
Read the full account in the museum source.
Source: wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
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