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St. John the Baptist and St. Sebastian

St. John the Baptist and St. Sebastian

Artist/Maker (Italian, ca. 1420 – after 1480)
Dateca. 1460
MediumTempera and gilding on hardwood panel
DimensionsOverall: 59 1/2 × 40 1/4 in. (151.1 × 102.2 cm)
Frame: 68 3/16 × 49 7/16 × 3 3/4 in. (173.2 × 125.6 × 9.5 cm)
Credit LineGift of the Samuel H. Kress Foundation
Object number1961.79
Status
On view
More Information
Working primarily in Perugia, Boccati's angular forms and crisp light reveal the influence of artists such as Domenico Veneziano and Carlo Crivelli. This particular work was part of a large altarpiece that also included a Crucifixion (now in Turin), a Madonna with Angels (Ajaccio), and two other panels with saints (Vatican). Shown here is John the Baptist, wearing an animal hide covering, and St. Sebastian, bound and pierced with arrows, with both of them standing in a shallow stage-like space. The banner on John's staff reads: "Behold the Lamb of God."
ProvenanceCardinal Joseph Fesch [1763-1839], Rome. Giulio Sterbini [d. 1911], Rome, by 1906.¹ (Count Alessandro Contini Bonacossi [1878-1955], Rome and Florence); sold to Samuel H. Kress [1863-1955] on 1 September 1939; gift to the National Gallery of Art, 1943; deaccessioned 1952 and returned to the Samuel H. Kress Foundation; by gift 1961 to Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH Notes: ¹According to Adolfo Venturi and Giulio Sterbini, "La Galleria Sterbini in Roma," Saggio Illustrativo, Casa Editrice L'Arte, 1906, no. 37, as Manner of Francesco Benaglio. [Provenance information provided by the Kress Collection Provenance Research Project and the National Gallery of Art] Exhibition History
The Samuel H. Kress Study Collection: A Gift of Ten Italian Paintings
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (November 16, 1961 - 1962-03 )
Seven Hundred Years of Western Art
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (August 26, 2001 - June 2, 2002 )
Religion, Ritual and Performance in the Renaissance
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (August 28, 2012 - June 30, 2013 )
Collections
  • European
  • On View
The AMAM continually researches its collection and updates its records with new findings.
We welcome additional information and suggestions for improvement. Please email us at AMAMcurator@oberlin.edu.