Cesare Dandini (Firenze 1596 - 1657), Saint John the Baptist

Oil on canvas
cm. 145x115,5. Framed

The painting is accompanied by an expertise by Prof. Sandro Bellesi.

This painting depicts Saint John the Baptist full-length in a hilly landscape at sunset, pointing towards a luminous apparition in the sky. The figure, shown in his traditional animal-skin garment and red mantle, is rendered with strong chiaroscuro and pronounced naturalism.
The work has been attributed by Sandro Bellesi to Cesare Dandini and represents an important addition to the artist’s early oeuvre, datable to the late 1620s or early 1630s. The marked Caravaggesque naturalism, combined with references to the Tuscan tradition of Filippo Tarchiani and Giovanni Martinelli, distinguishes this work from Dandini’s later production. The physiognomy of the saint and the compositional syntax also recall the influence of Francesco Curradi. Further confirmation comes from comparison with Dandini’s Saint John the Baptist and Allegory, both currently untraced (see S. BELLESI, Cesare Dandini, Turin 1996, pp. 57–59, nos. 6–7).