The beheading of Saint John the Baptist

Two other drawings by Boscoli showing the Beheading of John the Baptist are in the Istituto Nazionale per la Grafica in Rome (inv. FC 130536 and 130564; N. Bastogi, Andrea Boscoli, Florence, 2008, no. 224, ill. and no. 225). Both are similar in size and execution to the present sheet. The artist’s account book records a now lost painting of this subject made for the Florentine goldsmith Orazio Vanni in 1596 (ibid., p. 279, no. 35). It is possible that these drawings were made to plan the composition for the painting.