(Florence 1603–1646)
Saint John the Baptist in a landscape,
oil on canvas, 109 x 166.5 cm, framed

Literature:
V. Markova, Un capolavaro sconosciuto di Francesco Furini e un’altra aggiunta al suo catalogo, in: Paragone, 54, 2004, pp. 52-55, pl. 45;
G. Cantelli, Repertorio della pittura fiorentina del Seicento, Aggiornamento, Pontedera 2009, I, p. 114;
G. Cantelli, Francesco Furini e i Furiniani, Pontedera 2010, pp. 142-143, no. 81A, ill.

We are grateful to Sandro Bellesi for confirming the attribution of the present painting on the basis of a photograph.

The present work portrays the young Saint John the Baptist, lying in a wooded landscape, holding aloft a cross of reeds and with his traditional attribute of a lamb. Particularly venerated by Florentines, as patron saint of the city, the Baptist was assiduously represented by local artists over the centuries. In the case of this work, executed according to the tastes of the mid-seventeenth century, the turbid sensuality of the subject and the refined idealisation of the adolescent’s face and body contrast with the more generic handling of the surrounding landscape.

Another version of this composition exists in a Florentine private collection, the distinct differences being the format and the exposed nakedness of the saint. By comparison, in the present picture the saint is somewhat concealed by voluminous red drapery, which partially covers an underlying lamb’s fur. The Florentine painting has been published by Giuseppe Cantelli several times since 1972 as an autograph work by Francesco Furini.

Viktorija Markova discovered the present painting, previously attributed to Annibale Carracci, or his circle, on the Moscow art market and published it as a workshop version (see V. Markova in literature). This painting was subsequently published by Giuseppe Cantelli (see G. Cantelli in literature).

Two preparatory drawings for this composition by Furini are known, both in the Gabinetto Disegni e Stampe degli Uffizi, Florence. The Studio di donna sdraiata (no. 9699F) shows the whole composition, in which the reclining figure was traditionally believed to represent a woman, hence its title. The second study, Studio di gambe (no. 9705F), closely depicts the legs of the subject covered by drapery, as is the case in the present painting, with additional sketches (see op. cit. Cantelli, 2010, nos. 81a and 81b, p. 142).