Saint John the Baptist, Marcello Venusti (Mazzo di Valtellina 1510 – Rome 1579) workshop/circle

Marcello Venusti (Mazzo di Valtellina 1510 – Rome 1579) workshop/circle

St. John Baptist

Oil on canvas (65 x 50 cm / Framed 74 x 58 cm.)

Full details of the painting (click HERE)

The work portrays a full-length Saint John the Baptist in a moment of meditation in the desert, portrayed with sober elegance, seated in his typical contemplative pose with his index finger pointing to the sky, while his gaze turns towards the observer, and in one hand he holds the traditional cross-shaped staff, alluding to Christ's sacrifice on the cross.

Characterized by a simplicity that enhances the spiritual purity of the subject, the Saint is wrapped in a simple bright red cloak, symbolizing the abandonment of material things and the connection with the divine dimension, while the surrounding environment, bare and arid, represents solitude and sacrifice, central elements in the saint's life.

The representation conveys a profound spirituality, typical of the iconographic canons required in the 16th century, and can be traced back to a painter still active in this century, or at most at the beginning of the next, close to Marcello Venusti (1510 – 1579), a painter of Lombard origin but active for most of his prolific career in Rome, whose workshop received numerous commissions with a similar subject.

Venusti arrived in the Eternal City around 1545, thanks to the support of Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, and worked first in Perin del Vaga's construction sites in Castel Sant'Angelo and later alongside Michelangelo in the Pauline Chapel in the Vatican.

The work is a version, created for domestic devotion and therefore smaller in scale, of the altarpiece commissioned from Marcello Venusti for the church of Santa Caterina dei Funari in Rome. LINK: https://catalogo.fondazionezeri.unibo.it/scheda/opera/16863/

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Good state of preservation, complete with gilded frame (not contemporary with the painting).

The work is sold complete with a certificate of authenticity and a descriptive iconographic sheet.

We take care of and organize the transport of the purchased works, both for Italy and abroad, through professional and insured carriers. It is also possible to see the painting in the gallery in Riva del Garda, we will be happy to welcome you to show you our collection of works.

In case of purchase of the work by non-Italian customers it will be necessary to obtain an export permit which requires approximately 15/20 days, our gallery will take care of the entire phase until obtaining it. All costs of this operation are included.

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