id: 130707 accession number: 1953.424 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1953.424 updated: 2019-07-18 08:05:20.218000 Head of Saint John the Baptist, c. 1550-1650. Spain or Northern Italy, mid 16th - mid 17th century. Oil on canvas; framed: 80.6 x 104.8 x 7.6 cm (31 3/4 x 41 1/4 x 3 in.); unframed: 50 x 75.2 cm (19 11/16 x 29 5/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund 1953.424 title: Head of Saint John the Baptist title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: c. 1550-1650 creation date earliest: 1550 creation date latest: 1650 current location: 118 Italian Renaissance creditline: Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund copyright: --- culture: Spain or Northern Italy, mid 16th - mid 17th century technique: oil on canvas department: European Painting and Sculpture collection: P - Italian 16th & 17th Century type: Painting find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS --- measurements: Framed: 80.6 x 104.8 x 7.6 cm (31 3/4 x 41 1/4 x 3 in.); Unframed: 50 x 75.2 cm (19 11/16 x 29 5/8 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: inscription: Inscription of ribbon entwining the reed cross: ECCE AGNUS DEI translation: remark: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: The Venetian Tradition opening date: 1956-11-08T05:00:00 The Venetian Tradition. The Cleveland Museum of Art (November 8, 1956-January 1, 1957). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS * Vienna, Sezesion (second exhibition by the Verein der Museumfreunde), 1924: "Meisterwerker Italienischer Renaissance Kunst aus Privtbesitz," cat. no. 112.
Venice, Palazo Pésaro, 1935: "Mostra di Tiziano," cat. no. 63 (catalogue by Gino Fogliari).
CMA, 1956: "The Venetian Tradition," cat. no. 22, pl. IX. (Catalogue by Henry S Francis). --- PROVENANCE [Alessandro Brass, Venice], sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1953. date: footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: The scroll wrapped around the cross next to John the Baptist's head reads Ecce Agnus Dei, meaning "Behold the Lamb of God." digital description: wall description: Salome’s dancing so pleased her stepfather Herod that he offered her anything she wanted. Her mother advised Salome to demand John the Baptist’s head, which Salome presented to her family in an elaborate dish. Here, the head stands on its own, with a startlingly tangible presence. Despite its biblical source, this work was meant for a domestic setting, whose owner would have admired the artful presentation of a shocking story. Acquired in 1953 as the work of the Venetian Renaissance artist Titian, the painting soon lost this attribution because it lacks Titian’s distinctive brushwork. After decades of research, the museum has yet to identify a clear author. Recently, several scholars have argued persuasively for a Spanish artist, partly because the subject is common in Spanish art in the early 1600s. Yet the color scheme and the handling of paint in the face recalls the work of earlier artists inspired by Titian in northern Italy. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. page number: Reproduced: p. 97 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1966/page/n121 The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. page number: Reproduced: p. 97 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1969/page/n121 The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. page number: Reproduced: p. 111 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1978/page/n131 The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Catalogue of Paintings, Part 3: European Paintings of the 16th, 17th, and 18th Centuries. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1982. page number: Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 442 url: --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1953.424/1953.424_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1953.424/1953.424_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1953.424/1953.424_full.tif