Saint John the Baptist Bearing Witness
Francesco Granacci
ca. 1506–7 · Oil and gold on wood · European Paintings
This painting formed part of a series of possibly five panels illustrating the life of Saint John the Baptist, likely designed to decorate a room in a Florentine palace. Landscape and architecture throughout the cycle’s compositions frame and divide the individual scenes. Here, craggy rockfaces form a stagelike backdrop for John preaching in the wilderness. This “wilderness” includes a nearby farm and city beyond. The five panels are by more than one artist, a common practice in Florence at the time, employed for workshop efficiency. Some scholars have even proposed the contributions of the young Michelangelo, who was Granacci’s friend.
- Artist
- Francesco Granacci
- Date
- ca. 1506–7
- Medium
- Oil and gold on wood
- Department
- European Paintings
- Credit line
- Purchase, Gwynne Andrews, Harris Brisbane Dick, Dodge, Fletcher, and Rogers Funds, funds from various donors, Ella Morris de Peyster Gift, Mrs. Donald Oenslager Gift, and Gifts in memory of Robert Lehman, 1970
