A virtual Uffizi exhibition tells the stories of St. John the Baptist in paintings from the 14th to the 20th century

On the occasion of June 24, the feast day of Florence’s patron saint, St. John the Baptist, the Uffizi Galleries are presenting a virtual exhibition on its website dedicated to the figure of John the Baptist in art. Title of the hyperview is The Saint Who Baptized Christ. Scenes from the Life of St. John the Baptist, curated by Anna Bisceglia: on display online are fifteen works from the collections created between the fourteenth and twentieth centuries, including masterpieces by great artists such as Leonardo, Raphael, Bronzino, Veronese, and a Russian icon.

Indeed, the Baptist has been much represented in figurative art, from the Middle Ages to the 20th century, as a key figure, a link between the Old and New Testaments, between Jewish tradition and the message of Jesus.

The virtual tour begins with an altarpiece by the Giottesque painter Giovanni del Biondo; followed by St. John in the Desert, a work Raphael executed in Rome around 1518, and one by Andrea del Sarto. Also, depictions of the early childhood of the Baptist painted by Pontormo and Bronzino, and the Baptism of Christ depicted in paintings by Verrocchio and Leonardo and Veronese. Martyrdom and Beheading are depicted instead in the works of Cranach the Elder and Alonso Berruguete.

“In the eighteenth century, the Uffizi was only crowded one day a year: that of the feast of St. John,” says Uffizi director Eike Schmidt, “when Florentines were invited to visit the collections, which were opened to the public in 1769 by Grand Duke Peter Leopold of Lorraine. For Florence it is a religious celebration but also a civic and political one. For the Uffizi, it is an important anniversary, and this year even more so because the museum has just reopened its doors, after the emergency, to visitors and especially to Florentines who are reacquainting themselves with the city and its art treasures. The virtual exhibition on the figure of St. John is intended not only as a tribute to the city’s patron saint, but as a way to celebrate with everyone in Florence and around the world a day of such great significance for the city and for our museum.”

The virtual exhibition can be accessed at this link .

Image: Raphael, Saint John the Baptist in the Desert (1517-18; oil on canvas; Florence, Uffizi)

A virtual Uffizi exhibition tells the stories of St. John the Baptist in paintings from the 14th to the 20th century

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