Spanish school; 17th century.

Spanish School; XVII century.
"San Juan Bautista".
Oil on canvas.
Preserves original canvas.
Former attribution to Juan Bautista Maino (Pastrana, Guadalajara, 1581 - Madrid, 1649).
Measurements: 102 x 77 cm; 187 x 135 cm (frame).
In this work, deeply marked by devotion, the painter portrays St. John the Baptist as a young beardless boy, holding the cross of reeds with the phylactery that reads "Ecce Agnus Dei", typical of his iconography. The saint is shown inscribed in a lush nocturnal landscape of great depth, worked with a successful game of hallmarks of light contrasts, which give rise to the pearly finish of the skin of the protagonist, becomes the illumination of the work. This feature shows us a delicate young man, not only in tone but also in its forms, with a rounded and delicate anatomy as seen especially in the legs and facial features, highlighting the profile of the nose, which is also enhanced with a pink finish that enhances the idea of youth. The painter of the work, which is based on the classical iconography of the scene, although he abandons the idea of the lamb, which is usual in the representations of St. John the Baptist. In such a way that it brings a greater prominence to the figure of the Saint, in an individual, delicate and resounding way. The quality of the finishes is excellent, the subtlety of the Nimbus of sanctity or the folding of the red mantle, with the play of light and shadows that form the volume in a fluid and natural way, are examples of the painter's artistic skill.
The Gospels say of John the Baptist that he was the son of the priest Zechariah and Elizabeth, cousin of the Virgin Mary. He retired very young to the desert of Judea to lead an ascetic life and preach penance, and recognized in Jesus, who was baptized by him, the Messiah announced by the prophets. A year after the baptism of Christ, in the year 29, John was arrested and imprisoned by the tetrarch of Galilee Herod Antipas, whose marriage with Herodias, his niece and sister-in-law, he had dared to censure. Finally St. John was beheaded, and his head given to Salome as a reward for his beautiful dances. This saint appears in Christian art with two different aspects: as a child, a playmate of Jesus, and as an adult, an ascetic preacher. The adult St. John that we see here appears dressed in oriental art with a camel skin sackcloth, which in the West was replaced with a sheepskin that leaves his arms, legs and part of his torso bare. The red cloak he wears at times, as well as in the scene of his intercession at the Last Judgment, alludes to his martyrdom. In Byzantine art he is depicted as a large-winged angel, with his severed head on a tray which he holds in his hands. However, his attributes in Western art are very different. The most frequent is a lamb, which alludes to Jesus Christ, and he often carries a cross of reeds with a phylactery with the inscription "Ecce Agnus Dei".