Saint John the Baptist

Florentine 15th Century, probably after a model by Desiderio da Settignanoc. 1490

Details

Title: Saint John the Baptist
Creator: Florentine 15th Century, probably after a model by Desiderio da Settignano
Date Created: c. 1490
Physical Dimensions: overall: 48.9 x 52.1 x 26 cm (19 1/4 x 20 1/2 x 10 1/4 in.)
Provenance: Possibly purchased 1846 in Italy by Eugène Piot [1812-1890], Paris.[1] Louis-Charles Timbal [1821-1880], Paris, by 1868;[2] purchased 1872 with the entire Timbal collection by Gustave Dreyfus [1837-1914], Paris;[3] his estate; purchased 1930 with the entire Dreyfus collection by (Duveen Brothers, Inc., London, New York, and Paris); purchased 15 December 1936 by The A.W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, Pittsburgh;[4] gift 1937 to NGA. [1] This information is given in the Duveen Brothers prospectus, in NGA curatorial files. A half-length terracotta bust of Saint John the Baptist with traces of color, the same height as the NGA sculpture, is listed as no. 83 in the Piot sale of 25-30 April 1864 at Hôtel Drouot. However, the description also says "the right arm and hand are placed against the chest," which does not match NGA 1937.1.130. [2] Charles Perkins, "Donatello," _Gazette des Beaux-Arts 25 (October 1868): 312. [3] The sculpture was lent by Dreyfus two years later to an 1874 exhibition in Paris. [4] The original Duveen Brothers invoice is in Gallery Archives, copy in NGA curatorial files; the sculpture is listed as by Donatello.
Medium: painted terracotta

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