Full title | The Birth of Saint John the Baptist: Predella Panel |
---|---|
Artist | Giovanni di Paolo |
Artist dates | active by 1417; died 1482 |
Series | Baptist Predella |
Date made | 1454 |
Medium and support | Egg tempera on wood |
Dimensions | 30.5 x 36 cm |
Acquisition credit | Bought with a contribution from the Art Fund, 1944 |
Inventory number | NG5453 |
Location | Room 52 |
Art route(s) | A |
Collection | Main Collection |
This engaging little scene, full of lifelike detail comes from a series of panels that tell the story of the life of John the Baptist, the prophet who preached the coming of Christ as the Messiah. They once formed a predella, the lowest part of a multi-panelled altarpiece.
The saint has just been born; the story of his birth is recorded in the first chapter of the Gospel of Luke. His father Zacharias, shown here as an old man, had a vision of an angel who told him he would have a son and call him John. Zacharias was amazed: he and his wife had never been able to conceive and were now both elderly.
As a result of his disbelief the angel took away Zacharias’s voice. Because he could not speak, we see Zacharias writing John’s name in a book resting on his knee.
This little scene, full of lifelike detail, comes from a series of panels that tell the story of the life of John the Baptist. They once formed a predella, the lowest part of a multi-panelled altarpiece.
The saint has just been born; his head is framed by a large golden halo. He is propped up on his wet-nurse’s knee, his arms wrapped around her neck. His mother Elizabeth sleeps in the large bed behind, the shape of her legs visible under the covers. Her golden halo blends into her gilded bedstead which, like the foot of the bed, is decorated with little figures playing musical instruments. These are probably angels; their costume resembles those of angels in religious paintings of this period. Beds painted with religious subjects still survive – there is one painted with a scene of the Virgin and Child in the Ospedale del Ceppo in Pistoia.
The story of John the Baptist’s birth is recorded in the first chapter of the Gospel of Luke. His father Zacharias, shown here as an old man, received a vision when he was making an offering in the temple. An angel appeared and told him that he and his wife would have a son and they would call him John. Zacharias was amazed: he and Elizabeth had never been able to conceive and were now both elderly. The angel punished him for his disbelief, saying, ‘you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things come to pass, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.’
As he couldn‘t speak, we see Zacharias writing John’s name in the book resting on his knee. According to the Gospel account, it was very unusual that they called him John, a name not used by their family. It was more common to name a son after his father. Here, however, Zacharias fulfils the words of the angel Gabriel. By including this detail Giovanni di Paolo makes reference to the divine nature of John’s birth without having to include the scene of Zacharias’s angelic vision.
The artist has arranged the scene in a similar way to images that show the birth of the Virgin Mary, which were often – like this – painted on a small scale. The furnishings of the room are positioned at an awkward angle – the wall that includes the chimney converges with the foot of the bed to form a narrow ’V' – but this allows the artist to include the painted bed and the fire where the maid dries a cloth. On the floor next to her are the gilded jug and basin that have been used to wash the baby. An archway at the back of the room leads through to further open doorways, giving the impression of the other rooms in the house.
One of the most striking elements of the picture is Zacharias’s gracefully rippling blue drapery. Technical analysis shows that the artist drew this spontaneously freehand, directly onto the prepared panel, before painting over it.
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The Birth of Saint John the Baptist: Predella Panel
Baptist Predella
These four panels once formed part of a predella, the lowest part of an altarpiece. Together they tell the story of the life of John the Baptist, the prophet who preached the coming of Christ as the Messiah.
Events run from left to right like a comic strip. At the far left edge was a scene showing John’s birth, followed by his departure into the wilderness and then the baptism of Christ – the main event in John’s life. Another panel, which may have shown John preaching in the wilderness, would have followed, but this did not enter the National Gallery’s collection with the other panels and we don't know where it is now. The final scene shows the saint after his execution.
The predella was probably part of an polyptych (a multi-panelled altarpiece) made by Giovanni di Paolo for the Augustinian church in Cortona.
These four panels once formed part of a predella of a polyptych (a multi-panelled altarpiece). Together they tell us about the life of Saint John the Baptist, with each scene representing a different significant story. Although the scenes were painted on a continuous piece of wood, after the altarpiece was dismantled the predella was cut into individual panels.
The scenes were arranged in chronological order from left to right. At the far left edge was John’s birth, followed by his departure into the wilderness, then the baptism of Christ – the main event in John’s life. This would have been followed by a scene which may have depicted John preaching in the wilderness, to match his departure for the wilderness, but it did not enter our collection with the other panels and its whereabouts is unknown. The final scene shows the saint after his execution, his head on a platter. Some of the scenes were separated by borders painted with a floral design but this only survives on one of our panels.
Predella panels usually celebrated the life of one or more of the saints shown on the main part of the altarpiece. We don‘t know for sure which altarpiece this predella was made for, but one suggestion is a polyptych showing the Virgin and Child with saints by Giovanni di Paolo (now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York). One of the saints is Augustine, so it may have been made for the church of an Augustinian friary. The presence of John the Baptist on the main altarpiece – he stands at the Virgin’s right side, the most honourable position – and the predella with scenes from his life mean that it was most likely placed on an altar in a chapel dedicated to him.
Giovanni di Paolo made a number of works for Augustinian patrons in and around Siena. This altarpiece might have been in the church of Sant’Agostino (Saint Augustine) in Siena, where a chapel dedicated to John the Baptist was founded in 1439, but the New York altarpiece came from a private collection of works mainly from Cortona. The Augustinian church in Cortona was being rebuilt in the 1430s, and in the 1450s a man called Zaccaria di Matteo degli Bencivenni left money in his will for the construction of a chapel dedicated to John the Baptist. It’s possible that the altarpiece was made for that chapel; it would explain the prominence of Saint Zacharias, Zaccaria di Matteo degli Bencivenni’s patron saint, in the first panel showing the birth and naming of John the Baptist.
Giovanni di Paolo often reused his designs for pictures. These panels are very similar to another, more extensive, series of pictures painted with scenes from John the Baptist’s life, which are now housed in collections all over the world. They are almost identical to our panels; they differ only in scale and format (they are larger and have a vertical – tall and narrow – shape) and in certain small details, such as the figures' gestures. They were probably painted after our panels but they show how once the artist had found a satisfactory design, he was happy to reuse it for a different commission.




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