North Italian School 17th Century
The Baptism of Christ, circa 1650
oil on alabaster
42 x 63 cm
16 ½ x 24 ¾ in
16 ½ x 24 ¾ in
7215
Further images
The production of paintings on alabaster and other stone supports flourished in the late sixteenth century, most notably in Florence and Rome; a reference to the Venetian Sebastiano del Piombo...
The production of paintings on alabaster and other stone supports flourished in the late sixteenth century, most notably in Florence and Rome; a reference to the Venetian Sebastiano del Piombo painting on stone is recorded as early as 1530. Earlier examples are painted on marble and slate, but as trade routes developed, more types of stone became available, including alabaster, lapis lazuli, onyx, jasper, agate, and amethyst.
Painters used these supports to attain a high level of finish, and capitalised on the natural contours and colours offered by the stone to guide and enhance their compositions, for example in the profiles of the landscapes in the present work. The stone figuring helps to create the bank of the River Jordan where John the Baptist stands and similarly the attendant angels on the other side; the tight figuring around Christ's feet gives a sense of the water eddying by and then again the stone naturally offers a sense of cloud formations in the sky placing God the Father a celestial setting above the depiction of The Holy Spirit.
Paintings on stone were clearly prized, and examples are recorded in the inventories of the most distinguished collecting dynasties across western Europe, including the Medici, Colonna and Savoy families.
The stone support is possibly alabastro di Busca, from Cuneo, Piedmont (examples of which can be found in the Faustino Corsi Collection of Decorative Stones, University of Oxford, nos. 359 & 360). A seminal exhibition on this subject was held at the Saint Louis Art Museum in 2022 (Paintings on Stone: Science and the Sacred 1530-1800, 20 February-15 May 2022, curated by Judith W. Mann). In her article on stone supports in the acconpanying catalogue Judy Mann discusses the vitality of the trade in stone used for painting. SHe notes that it is rare to find large paintings on alabaster primarily becuase of its expense, but it was very easy to work with . A list of sales drawn up by Teodoro della Porta in 1610 mentions some antique alabaster "sawn into various rectangles...sold to painters around Rome to paint upon which yielded many scudi".
Painters used these supports to attain a high level of finish, and capitalised on the natural contours and colours offered by the stone to guide and enhance their compositions, for example in the profiles of the landscapes in the present work. The stone figuring helps to create the bank of the River Jordan where John the Baptist stands and similarly the attendant angels on the other side; the tight figuring around Christ's feet gives a sense of the water eddying by and then again the stone naturally offers a sense of cloud formations in the sky placing God the Father a celestial setting above the depiction of The Holy Spirit.
Paintings on stone were clearly prized, and examples are recorded in the inventories of the most distinguished collecting dynasties across western Europe, including the Medici, Colonna and Savoy families.
The stone support is possibly alabastro di Busca, from Cuneo, Piedmont (examples of which can be found in the Faustino Corsi Collection of Decorative Stones, University of Oxford, nos. 359 & 360). A seminal exhibition on this subject was held at the Saint Louis Art Museum in 2022 (Paintings on Stone: Science and the Sacred 1530-1800, 20 February-15 May 2022, curated by Judith W. Mann). In her article on stone supports in the acconpanying catalogue Judy Mann discusses the vitality of the trade in stone used for painting. SHe notes that it is rare to find large paintings on alabaster primarily becuase of its expense, but it was very easy to work with . A list of sales drawn up by Teodoro della Porta in 1610 mentions some antique alabaster "sawn into various rectangles...sold to painters around Rome to paint upon which yielded many scudi".