Saint John the Baptist in the Wilderness

Following the death of his father in 1540, Alessandro Allori was adopted by the great Florentine Mannerist Agnolo Bronzino (1503-1572), a friend of his father, who also furnished him with his artistic training. Between 1554 and 1560, Allori studied classical sculpture as well as the works of Michelangelo while residing in Rome. Upon Allori’s return to Florence, Bronzino’s studio included a number of Flemish assistants, from whom Allori may well have adapted details such as this painting’s exceptionally naturalistic landscape background. The mannered appearance of Saint John the Baptist, who raises his eyes heavenward while subtly twisting his muscular torso and crossing his lower legs is, however, entirely consistent with contemporary Florentine approaches to the human figure. Though largely known today for his portraits, Allori also painted a number of small-scale works on copper and other precious supports, including a painting on lapis lazuli for Ferdinando I de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (Sotheby’s, New York, 1 February 2018, lot 19 ($735,000)).

According to the Gospels, Saint John the Baptist was the precursor and forerunner of Christ and the fulfillment of the prophet Isaiah. When questioned by a group of priests and Levites sent to ask him who he was, John famously denied being the Messiah, replying instead ‘I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, “Make straight the way for the Lord.”’ (John 1:23). The Gospels further indicate that he lived an ascetic life, describing him as wearing clothes of camel’s hair—much as Allori depicted him in this painting—and surviving exclusively on locusts and wild honey. Baptism was central to his messianic movement; the prominent inclusion of the stream in the painting’s foreground was almost certainly intended to allude to John's future participation in the Baptism of Christ, an event relayed in the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke.