Saint John the Baptist (Preti)
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Saint John the Baptist is a c.1653-1656 oil on canvas painting by Mattia Preti, now in the Museo nazionale di Capodimonte in Naples.[1]
It shows the saint in a pose that became typical in Preti's work, using foreshortening, chiaroscuro, and several red colours, especially in the saint's cloak.[1] He had already used this treatment of the human figure in the lunette frescoes at the church of San Biagio in Modena, whose Saint John the Baptist seems to be a prototype for the work now in Naples. That treatment later reached its apogee in his Saint Sebastian , produced for the church of Santa Maria ad Ogni Bene dei Sette Dolori and now also in the Museo di Capodimonte.[1]