| Head of St. John the Baptist | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | Giovanni Bellini |
| Year | 1465–1470 |
| Medium | Tempera on panel |
| Dimensions | 28 cm diameter (11 in) |
| Location | Civic Museum, Pesaro |
The head of St. John the Baptist is a tondo painting by the Italian Renaissance master Giovanni Bellini. [1] It is now housed in the Civic Museum of Pesaro.
The painting depicts the head of the St. John the Baptist just after his decapitation, with blood still dripping from the neck. The perspective from below show the influence of the treatises about perspective representation of the human figure which were being published at the time, such as Piero della Francesca's De prospectiva pingendi.
Stylistically, the brilliant colors and the dramatic painting are similar to those of St. Vincent Ferrer Polyptych, the first mature work by Bellini, dated to after 1464. [2]
References
-
^ L'opera era già stata oggetto di dibattito con l'assegnazione ai due pittori dopo la prima attribuzione allo Zoppo da parte di
Adolfo Venturi (
); dopo una prevalente attribuzione a Bellini la critica più recente pare più propensa verso lo Zoppo (Pignatti 1969
— p. 91.
). Non viene consideratanel Catalogo ragionato dove incidentalmente viene considerata come assodata l'ipotesi dello Zoppo (Regione Marche
)Lucco 2019
— p. 327. -
^
187.Tempestini 2000
— pp. 47,
Sources
- De Vecchi, Pierluigi; Elda Cerchiari (1999). I tempi dell'arte. Vol. 2. Milan: Bompiani. ISBN 88-451-7212-0.