St. John the Baptist

Object belonging

One's own

Category

Wood sculpture

City

Rome

Location

Museo Nazionale del Palazzo di Venezia

Specific location

Store

Inventory

s.n.

Material and technique

Sculpted wood and gilding

Author

Roman School

Dating

18th century

Dimensions

38 x 14 x 15 cm.

Origin

Gorga Collection (1948)

Image copyright

SSPSAE e per il Polo Museale della città di Roma

Short description

This sculpture came from the collection of the opera singer Gennaro Evangelista (called Evan) Gorga, which was given to the Italian state in 1948 and was intended for the most part for the Palazzo Venezia museum. The statuette, which is gilded so as to simulate a metal object, depicts the figure of St. John the Baptist, who is immediately identified by his traditional attributes of the camel skin robe and the lamb, which he is carrying in his left arm; he is missing, though, the long, wayfarer’s stick with a small cross on top, inscribed with the words ECCE AGNUS DEI, on which he would probably have rested his right arm, which is now lost. He has a beard and long hair, with a serene expression and well-defined musculature, in a classic pose; the work can be dated to 18th century Rome. 

Grazia Maria Fachechi 

Bibliography

Unpublished