John the Baptist being carried to Zacharias
Francesco Granaccic. 1510
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland, United States
Did Michelangelo paint some of this work?
This panel formed part of a series depicting the life of John the Baptist, with other panels located in New York City and Liverpool. Scholars believe that as many as five artists may have participated in creating the series and disagree about who painted this panel. Michelangelo Buonarotti, a lifelong friend of Francesco Granacci’s, may have contributed to one of the two panels in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Compare the sculptural quality of the maidservant’s white drapery in the CMA’s picture with figures from the Met’s panels attributed to Michelangelo (below left) and Granacci (below right). Which one do you think it more closely resembles?
- Title: John the Baptist being carried to Zacharias
- Creator: Francesco Granacci (Italian, 1469–1543)
- Date Created: c. 1510
- Physical Dimensions: Unframed: 76.2 x 33 cm (30 x 13 in.)
- Provenance: Marchese Giovanni Gerini, Palazzo Gerini, Florence, Italy, sold to Reverend John Sanford, Reverend John Sanford [1777-1855], Florence, Italy and London, United Kingdom purchased from Marchese Gerini between 1830 and 1837;, Lord Frederick Paul Methuen [1818-1891] (married John Sanford's daughter, Anna Horatia Caroline Sanford [1824-1899], by inheritance to the Methuen Family, Corsham Court, Chippenham, England, (Christies, London, England, sale May 13, 1899, no. 85), Mrs. Murray Guthrie [1872-1945] (sale: Christie's, London, March 11, 1911, no. 25, sold to S.W. Partridge), (Partridge and Co., London, England, sold to Duveen Brothers), (Duveen Brothers, 1917), Mrs. Francis F. Prentiss [1865-1944], Cleveland, OH, The Elisabeth Severance Prentiss Collection., The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
- Type: Painting
- Rights: CC0
- External Link: https://clevelandart.org/art/1944.91
- Medium: tempera and oil with gold on wood
- Fun Fact: The artist used gold to paint fine details of embroidery and individual strands of hair.
- Department: European Painting and Sculpture
- Culture: Italy, 16th century
- Credit Line: The Elisabeth Severance Prentiss Collection
- Collection: P - Italian 16th & 17th Century
- Accession Number: 1944.91
Get the app
Explore museums and play with Art Transfer, Pocket Galleries, Art Selfie, and more
You are all set!
Your first Culture Weekly will arrive this week.