Saint John the Baptist
c. 1550
Medium
Alabaster
Dimensions
93.4 × 31.5 × 27.4 cm (36 3/4 × 12 3/8 × 10 3/4 in.)
Classification
statuette
Department
Painting and Sculpture of Europe
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
87460
Art Historical Context
This exquisite alabaster statuette of *Saint John the Baptist*, crafted by a Spanish artist around 1550, stands as a fine example of 16th-century Spanish religious sculpture. Measuring nearly a meter in height (93.4 × 31.5 × 27.4 cm), it captures the prophet in a dynamic pose, likely emphasizing his role as the wilderness preacher and forerunner to Christ. Housed in the Art Institute of Chicago's Department of Painting and Sculpture of Europe, it reflects the era's devotion to devotional art amid Spain's Golden Age and the Catholic Counter-Reformation. Alabaster, a soft yet durable gypsum-bas...