MADONNA AND CHILD WITH THE YOUNG SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST

This beautiful relief was modelled by hand in clay and then baked in a kiln into terracotta. It depicts the moment, not included in the scriptures, that the little St John was introduced to the Christ Child when the Holy Family stayed with Elizabeth on their return from Egypt. Previously linked to the work of Niccolo Roccatagliata, in 2002 Avery attributed the relief to the printmaker and designer Battista Pittoni. Pittoni designed the magnificent choir stalls of the Basilica Santa Giustina in Padua which were carved in wood by Riccardo Taurino from Rouen. Avery pointed to documentary evidence that Pittoni provided models in clay for all the works that the monks ordered to be carved in wood by Taurino ('facendo prima esso maestro Battista, il schizo in creda') and to the close stylistic comparisons between Taurino's celebrated creations in wood and the present relief. For example, the delicate face of the Virgin, her elegant hands with slim fingers, the noticeably small head of Christ and the details of the cloth in the background have close parallels in Taurino's work. It is possible that Pittoni modelled the present relief between 1558 and 1572 as a sculpted preliminary sketch to show to the friars of the church or other patrons he may have been cultivating.