Saint John the Baptist is a c.1653-1656 oil on canvas painting by Mattia Preti, now in the Museo nazionale di Capodimonte in Naples. [1]
It shows the saint in a pose that became typical in Preti's work, using foreshortening, chiaroscuro, and several red colours, especially in the saint's cloak. [1] He had already used this treatment of the human figure in the lunette frescoes at the church of San Biagio in Modena, whose Saint John the Baptist seems to be a prototype for the work now in Naples. That treatment later reached its apogee in his Saint Sebastian , produced for the church of Santa Maria ad Ogni Bene dei Sette Dolori and now also in the Museo di Capodimonte. [1]
The work's provenance is identical to that of the same artist's Judith and Holofernes . [1] The first written reference to it is in the 1659 will of the Calabrian lawyer Domenico di Somma, which mistakes its subject for Judith. [1] It was then inherited by di Somma's friend, collaborator and fellow Calabrian, Antonino Laratta. [1] Di Somma and Laratta were both Preti's lawyers during the painter's argument with the fathers of the church of Sant'Andrea della Valle in Rome. [1] On Laratta's death in 1685 both paintings were left to the church of San Domenico Soriano in Naples, as di Somma had stipulated before his death - that church was the centre of the Calabrian community in Naples. [1] The two works were placed on the side walls of the chapel where di Somma was buried, immediately to the right of the high altar. [1]
When the religious order was suppressed in 1806, these two paintings and a Saint Nicholas (Preti's first work in Naples, initially produced for the Gallo-Coscia chapel but by 1806 in San Domenico Soriano) were moved into the Bourbon collection in Palazzo dei Regi Studi [2] - the Saint Nicholas was exhibited there immediately, but the Judith and Saint John were initially placed in the collection's stores, with restoration to the support of Saint John in 1839, and both works were finally exhibited in 1870. [2]
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Museo di Capodimonte is an art museum located in the Palace of Capodimonte, a grand Bourbon palazzo in Naples, Italy. The museum is the prime repository of Neapolitan painting and decorative art, with several important works from other Italian schools of painting, and some important ancient Roman sculptures. It is one of the largest museums in Italy. The museum was inaugurated in 1957.
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Mattia Preti was an Italian Baroque artist who worked in Italy and Malta. He was appointed a Member of the Order of Saint John.
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Saint Sebastian is an oil on canvas painting by Italian artist Mattia Preti, created c. 1657. It represents Saint Sebastian, and is held in the National Museum of Capodimonte, in Naples.
Assumption of the Virgin with Saint John the Baptist and Saint Catherine of Alexandria is an oil on panel painting by Fra Bartolomeo, created c. 1516, commissioned by the church of Santa Maria in Castello in Prato. To the left of the Virgin's tomb is John the Baptist, whilst to the right is Catherine of Alexandria. It is now in the National Museum of Capodimonte in Naples.
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Judith and Holofernes is an oil on canvas painting by Italian artist Mattia Preti, datable to around 1653–1656. It is held at the Museo di Capodimonte, in Naples.
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Saint Nicholas is a c. 1653 painting by Mattia Preti, the first work he produced after moving to Naples and showing the three gold balls which are a traditional attribute of the saint. It is now in the Museo nazionale di Capodimonte in the same city. He also produced a larger version of the work in 1657 which is now in the Pinacoteca civica in Fano, with an early copy after the Capodimonte version now in the church of Santa Teresa degli Scalzi in Naples.