Probably by Giovanni Buonconsiglio, Saint John the Baptist

Saint John the Baptist is depicted here as though sitting for a portrait. He is shown bust length, set back from the viewer behind a stone parapet, as was common in early sixteenth-century Venetian portraits. This choice of format makes the saint present to the viewer as though he were a contemporary.

Saint John’s simple cross is formed from a split stick, with another shorter stick placed horizontally in the cleft. The words on the scroll, ‘Behold the Lamb of God’, are taken from the Gospel of John (John 1: 29 and 26). They refer to Christ who, like a lamb, will be sacrificed for the salvation of mankind.

This painting was previously believed to be by Bartolomeo Montagna, but is probably a late work by Buonconsiglio, who trained with him in Vicenza. It appears to have been painted as an independent picture, rather than having been part of a larger work, and was probably intended for private devotion.

Giovanni Buonconsiglio, called il Marescalco (meaning ‘the Equerry’), worked in Vicenza and Venice and seems to have had contact with Giovanni Bellini and Antonello da Messina. This painting follows a characteristic portrait format associated with Bellini, inspired by Netherlandish examples and by the work of Antonello da Messina, with a sculptural-style bust-length head and shoulders behind a parapet. Bellini’s Portrait of Doge Leonardo Loredan also follows a similar format. Bellini frequently set his sitter’s heads against deep blue skies dotted with white clouds.

The picture is obscured by a dirty varnish that has darkened, making it difficult to get a sense of the colours intended by the artist. However we can still appreciate the subtle lighting effects and striking realism of the face, set against the blue sky with pink-tinged clouds on the horizon. The artist has captured in minute detail Saint John’s red-rimmed moist eyes, and the varying textures of the strands of his hair and his camel-skin robe, painting the highlights on individual bristles of his moustache and the fine blond hairs in his beard. The saint in this imagined portrait must have originally appeared remarkably vivid and present.