Saint John the Baptist bids farewell to his parents
1634 - 1635.Not on display
Saint John the Baptist kneels before his parents, Zechariah and Elizabeth, asking for their blessing before embarking on his life in the desert. Two shepherds, perhaps those who will accompany the young man on his journey, contemplate and discuss what is happening. According to the Will of Charles II (1701), it was part of a gallery of six paintings depicting events in the life of the saint located in Madrid’s Buen Retiro Palace at the time. Four of them were painted by Massimo Stanzione: The Birth of John the Baptist announced to Zacharias; The Preaching of Saint John the Baptist; The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist; and this painting (P256, P257, P258, P291). Paolo Finoglio painted The Prison of Saint John the Baptist (now missing), and Artemisia Gentileschi painted The Birth of Saint John the Baptist (P149). The serial nature of these six paintings is made evident in the scale of the figures (life-size), the technique used, the heavy, bulky, and colourful clothing worn, and the composition. The figures are preferably arranged in a frieze, both here and in the other paintings in the series. This is also true of the sizes, which are arranged according to repeated sections. As is the case with many of the works commissioned for the new Retiro Palace, important details of these paintings, including their completion date and original location, are subject to controversy. Given the steps taken in commissioning other series of paintings in Naples and Rome during the 1630s for the Retiro, it is likely that the Spanish Viceroy in Naples, the Count of Monterrey (or one of his agents), commissioned Stanzione. The artist delegated one painting to Artemisia and the other to Finoglio. The Will of 1701 valued Finoglio’s painting at a lower price, indicating that the Madrid court held him in lesser esteem.
Úbeda de los Cobos, Andrés, 'Massimo Stanzione. Commiato di San Giovanni Battista dai suoi genitori' En:. Artemisia Gentileschi e il suo tempo, Milán, Skira, 2016, p.236-237 n.74
