''John the Baptist'' is a sculpture by the

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

artist

Alonzo Cano Alonso Cano Almansa or Alonzo Cano (19 March 16013 September 1667) was a Spanish painter, architect, and sculptor born in Granada.National Sculpture Museum The "National Museum of Sculpture" is a museum in Valladolid, Spain, belonging to the Spanish Ministry of Culture. The museum has an extensive sculptural collection ranging from the Middle Ages to the 19th century. The collections come mostly fr ...

, Valladolid. The sculpture was made by the artist for the church of San Juan de la Palma, during his

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

period. In 1634 the

Parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

of Saint John the Baptist commissioned painter

Juan del Castillo Juan del Castillo (c. 1590 – c. 1657) was a Spanish Baroque painter. Many of his paintings became famous during his time due to his pupil, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo. Del Castillo was the youngest brother of the painter Agustín. Both were tra ...

and

retable A retable is a structure or element placed either on or immediately behind and above the altar or communion table of a church. At the minimum it may be a simple shelf for candles behind an altar, but it can also be a large and elaborate structur ...

joiner

Miguel Cano Miguel Cano Pacheco was a Spanish baroque architect and sculptor born in Almodóvar del Campo, father and first master of Alonso Cano, renowned joiner of altarpieces. The reputation of his work and the accumulation of orders motivated that he was ...

, father of Alonso, a retable to include paintings and the central sculpture of Saint John. It was carved by Alonso Cano inspired by Martínez Montañés’ ''St. John the Baptist'' from St. Anne's convent (Seville). The sculpture is characterized by its idealized naturalism.

External links

National Museum of Sculpture

Saint John the Baptist – Google Cultural Institute
1630s sculptures {{Spain-sculpture-stub