The Young Saint John the Baptist

c. 1470/1500

Gregorio di Lorenzo (Master of the Marble Madonnas)

Sculptor, Florentine, c. 1436 - c. 1504

The head and shoulders of a young, smiling boy are carved from cream-white marble in this free-standing sculpture. In this photograph, his shoulders face us, and he looks slightly down and to our left. He has short, wavy hair that curls onto his forehead, and his skin is smooth. He has a short, straight nose, and his closed lips are turned up in a smile. He has rounded cheeks, and his chin has a shallow dimple. He wears a textured garment resembling fur and a swath of fabric falls over his right shoulder, on our left. The background behind him lightens from dark gray along the top to smoke gray along the bottom edge of the photograph.

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On View

West Building Main Floor, Gallery 6

Artwork overview

  • Medium

    marble

  • Credit Line

    Widener Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 26.7 x 29.2 x 16.2 cm (10 1/2 x 11 1/2 x 6 3/8 in.)

  • Accession

    1942.9.134

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Oscar Hainauer [d. 1894], Berlin; his wife, Julie Hainauer, Berlin; acquired 1906 by (Duveen Brothers, Inc., London and New York); inheritance from Estate of Peter A.B. Widener by gift through power of appointment of Joseph E. Widener, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, after purchase 10 December 1919 by funds of Joseph E. Widener;[1] gift 1942 to NGA.
[1] Provenance according to Widener card files in NGA curatorial records.

Associated Names

Bibliography

1942

  • Works of Art from the Widener Collection. Foreword by David Finley and John Walker. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 8.

1948

  • Paintings and Sculpture from the Widener Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1948 (reprinted 1959): 118, repro.

1965

  • Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 154, as by Fiamberti.

1968

  • National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 137, repro., as by Fiamberti.

1994

  • Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1994: 148, repro.

1999

  • Norman Herz, Katherine A. Holbrow and Shelley G. Sturman. "Marble Sculture in the National Gallery of Art: a Provenance Study." In Max Schvoerer, ed. Archéomatériaux: marbres et autres roches: ASMOSIA IV, Bordeaux, France 9-13 october 1995: actes de la IVème Conférence international de l’Association pour l’étude des marbres et autres roches utilizes dans le passé. Talence, 1999: 101-110.

2007

  • Pisani, Linda. "San Giovannino Battista nei busti del Rinascimento Florentino." In Jeanette Kohl and Rebecca Müller, eds. Kopf/Bild: Die Büste in Mittelalter und Frïher Neuzeit. (I Mandorli 6) Munich and Berlin, 2007: 232, no. 24, as by Gregorio di Lorenzo.

2010

  • Bellandi, Alfredo. Gregorio di Lorenzo: Il Maestro delle Madonne di Marmo. Morbio Inferiore, 2010: 97, 101 fig. 88, 147, 180, 261, 383, no. III.5.10, 406.

2012

  • Caglioti, Francesco. “Due false attribuzioni a Giovanni Bastianini falsario, ovvero due busti di Gregorio di Lorenzo, ex 'Maestro delle Madonne di marmo.'" In "Conosco un ottimo storico dell’arte...” Per E. Castelnuovo. Scritti di allievi e amici pisani. M. M. Donato e M. Ferretti, Pisa 2012: repro. 210.

Wikidata ID

Q63809854

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