CIVITALE, Matteo
(b. 1436, Lucca, d. 1501, Lucca)

St Zacharias

1496
Marble
Cappella di San Giovanni, Cathedral, Genoa

Matteo Civitale executed six life-size, free-standing statues (Adam, Eve, St Elizabeth, St Zacharias, Isaiah and Habakkuk) for the chapel of St John the Baptist in Genoa Cathedral. They are infused with a spirit and aesthetic only partly evolved from Civitale's earlier works and are characterized by pathos and subtly dramatic expressive faces. In particular, the figures of St Elizabeth and St Zacharias possess a quality of realism and emotion similar to contemporary Emilian sculpture.

The picture shows St Zacharias.