70 - Cesare Dandini

Cesare Dandini (Florence 1596–1657) Saint John the Baptist Oil on canvas 145 x 115.5 cm. Framed The painting is accompanied by an expert report by Prof. Sandro Bellesi. This painting depicts Saint John the Baptist full-length in a hilly landscape at sunset, pointing toward a luminous apparition in the sky. The figure, shown in his traditional animal-skin garment and red mantle, is rendered with strong chiaroscuro and pronounced naturalism. Sandro Bellesi has attributed the work to Cesare Dandini, and it represents an important addition to the artist’s early body of work, dating to the late 1620s or early 1630s. The marked Caravaggesque naturalism, combined with references to the Tuscan tradition of Filippo Tarchiani and Giovanni Martinelli, distinguishes this work from Dandini’s later production. The physiognomy of the saint and the compositional syntax also recall the influence of Francesco Curradi. Further confirmation comes from a comparison with Dandini’s *Saint John the Baptist* and *Allegory*, both of which are currently untraceable (see S. BELLESI, *Cesare Dandini*, Turin 1996, pp. 57–59, nos. 6–7).