SANSOVINO, Andrea
(b. ca. 1467, Monte Sansovino, d. 1529, Monte Sansovino)

St John the Baptist

c. 1502
Marble
Cathedral, Genoa

In the period following his return from Portugal to Italy, Sansovino became established as a sculptor of large-scale figures. He gained two important commissions for monumental marble figural groups, a Baptism (1502) for the east doors of the Baptistery of Florence Cathedral and at about the same time a Virgin and Child and St John the Baptist, both for Genoa Cathedral. These figures, his first to demonstrate the Classical canon of anatomical proportion and pose, are notable for their nobility, dignity and grace.

The picture shows the statue of St John the Baptist in the Cappella di San Giovanni of Genoa Cathedral.