Saint John the Baptist Bearing Witness
ca. 1506–7
Medium
Oil and gold on wood
Dimensions
29 3/4 x 82 1/2 in. (75.6 x 209.6 cm)
Classification
Paintings
Department
European Paintings
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Purchase, Gwynne Andrews, Harris Brisbane Dick, Dodge, Fletcher, and Rogers Funds, funds from various donors, Ella Morris de Peyster Gift, Mrs. Donald Oenslager Gift, and Gifts in memory of Robert Lehman, 1970
Accession Number
1970.134.2
Tags
Art Historical Context
Francesco Granacci's *Saint John the Baptist Bearing Witness* (ca. 1506–7) is a striking Renaissance panel painting from Florence, where Granacci trained under Domenico Ghirlandaio alongside Michelangelo. This large horizontal work in oil and gold on wood (29¾ × 82½ in.) captures the prophetic figure of Saint John the Baptist, Florence's patron saint, in a moment of divine testimony, likely pointing to Christ amid attendant figures of men and women. Acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1970 through generous donor funds, it exemplifies early 16th-century Florentine devotion. Granacci,...