GIULIO ROMANO (b. ca. 1499, Roma, d. 1546, Mantova) |
St John the Baptist in the Wilderness-Oil on panel, 178 x 154 cm Liechtenstein Museum, Vienna | |
This painting is almost identical with the painting attributed to Raphael in the Tribuna of the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. The naked, athletic St John the Baptist sits on a stony outcrop of a grotto-like rock formation that forms a dark background for his brilliantly lit figure. The spring rising close by can be read as a symbol of baptism. |