Saint John the Baptist
Medium
Black chalk with stumping, heightened with white gouache, on cream wove paper
Dimensions
41.2 × 32.7 cm (16 1/4 × 12 7/8 in.)
Classification
chalk
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
84974
About the Artist
Giovanni Battista Piazzetta · 1682–1754
Giovanni Battista Piazzetta was born in Venice in 1682 and trained first under his father, the sculptor and woodcarver Giacomo Piazzetta, before turning decisively to painting. The crucial formative experience of his career came when he traveled to Bologna to study under Giuseppe Maria Crespi, whose dramatic use of chiaroscuro — strong contrasts of light and shadow rooted in the Caravaggesque trad...