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[The Young St. John the Baptist]

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[The Young St. John the Baptist]

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Summary

The Young Saint John the Baptist probably dates to the 1650s like the painting in London mentioned elsewhere. There are also two drawings of Saint John from that period that accord stylistically with this one. The strongly shaded Youthful Saint John the Baptist, seated in Rocky Landscape, in a private collection, dates to this period (according to Jonathan Brown [Brown 2011, p. 271, cat. no. A22]). Although the wash in the drawing in the Library of Congress is less dramatic, the composition is almost the same in reverse and Murillo's characteristic nervous pen lines are evident. The Young Saint John the Baptist in the Prado (Brown, p. 273, cat. no. A24) is also stylistically consistent with this sheet: each reflects a lighter contrast of light and shade and a staccato pen line.
Inscriptions: Lower left verso in black chalk upside down: 004090.5. In brown ink, lower left verso: "...Real."
Title, date, subject, and physical description devised by Diane de Grazia, 2014.
Title in Catalog of the Gardiner Greene Hubbard collection of Engravings, 1905, p. 372: St. John and lamb.
Attributed on old mat to: Murillo.
Gardiner Greene Hubbard Collection.
Gift; Gertrude M. Hubbard; 1898; (DLC/PP-1898:R01).
The traditional attribution of this drawing to Murillo appears to be correct. The style accords with other works by the artist dating to the 1650s, when he was enjoying great popularity in his native Seville. Too late to be included in Jonathan Brown's Murillo. Virtuoso Draftsman (New Haven and London, 2011), the sheet accords with works published there and is accepted by the author (e-mail September 17, 2012, in LC files). Paintings and drawings of Saint John the Baptist are abundant in Murillo's oeuvre. (For paintings of this subject see, for example, those in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna [ca. 1650: Enrique Valdivieso, Murillo. Catalogo Razonado de Pinturas, Madrid, 2010, p. 278, cat. no. 23], and the National Gallery, London [ca. 1660-65: Valdivieso 2010, p. 382, cat. no. 169]). The artist was well known for his genre pictures of children, which exhibit an empathy with childhood beauty and calm. The religious paintings and drawings of the young Saint John are extensions of these works.
Condition assessment: Some foxing; spreading of ink. Stains, 2014.

date_range

Date

01/01/1650
person

Contributors

Murillo, Bartolomé Esteban, 1617-1682, artist
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Source

Kunsthistorisches Museum
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Copyright info

No known restrictions on publication.

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