Seated Saint John the Baptist

Circle of Jacopo Palma, called Palma il Giovane · c. 1600

Medium

Pen and brown ink with brush and brown wash, heightened with white gouache, with black chalk, on blue laid paper, laid down on ivory laid paper

Original size

14 × 8.9 cm (5 9/16 × 3 9/16 in.)

Currently held

Art Institute of Chicago

Movement

Mannerism

Rendered in the rich tonal language of late Venetian draughtsmanship, this seated figure of Saint John the Baptist carries a quiet authority that rewards close attention. Jacopo Palma il Giovane was one of the last great painters of the Venetian Renaissance, a direct link to the tradition of Titian and Tintoretto — and the artists working within his circle absorbed that legacy deeply. This work demonstrates a technique prized in Venice: building form through layered washes on blue laid paper, with white gouache used to carve out light rather than add it after the fact. The interplay of brown ink, wash, and chalk gives the figure a sculptural presence rare in works on paper. Blue laid paper was a favoured ground among Venetian draughtsmen of the period precisely because it provided a ready-made mid-tone, allowing artists to work both toward shadow and toward light from a single starting point. Our hand-painted oil reproduction translates the compositional drama and tonal depth of the original into the warmth and texture of oil on canvas, bringing a work held in the Art Institute of Chicago's collection into your home with the presence it deserves.