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an image of a painting of a child holding a goatan old metal plate with a rusted surface on a brick wall
Dams Casa d'Aste

21 - Leonardo da Vinci (workshop of) – St John the Baptist as a C…
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Estimate €800 - €1,200
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Description
Leonardo da Vinci (workshop of) – St John the Baptist as a Child with the Lamb, oil on panel, 68 x 49.5 cm The painting depicts the young St John the Baptist, recognisable by the reed cross bearing the inscription ‘Ecce Agnus Dei’, as he holds the Lamb close to him, an allusion to Christ’s sacrifice.The work is part of the figurative tradition that developed around Leonardo da Vinci in Lombardy between the late 15th and the early decades of the 16th century, when the master’s inventions, models and studies were taken up and interpreted in various ways by artists working in his workshop and within the wider Milanese circle.Evidently derived from Leonardo are, first and foremost, the type of young face turned slightly away, the downcast gaze, the almost ambiguous softness of the features, and the rendering of the hair through broad, curved and flowing locks. The way in which the figure gradually emerges from the dark background, through soft chiaroscuro transitions and a definition of the contours that is not strictly linear, also recalls the exploration of sfumato and the atmospheric blending of forms characteristic of Leonardo’s circle.The very iconography of John the Baptist, as well as the particular emphasis on the emotional interaction between the boy and the animal, finds significant points of contact with the repertoire of inventions developed within Leonardo’s circle: from the famous typology of St John the Baptist, developed and replicated by his circle, to the motif of the Lamb as a symbolic and emotional element of the composition, which is also central to Leonardo’s inventions relating to St Anne, the Virgin and the Child.The painting therefore belongs to that widespread phenomenon of the circulation of Leonardo’s prototypes, which involved figures such as Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio, Marco d’Oggiono, Giampietrino and Cesare da Sesto, as well as numerous painters working within or near the master’s Milanese workshop.However, a more precise attribution of the artist’s hand is now difficult due to the state of preservation of the painted surface, which partly obscures the original layers. Furthermore, several changes of mind during the execution are discernible, a particularly significant element as it suggests a phase of compositional development rather than a mere mechanical transposition of a pre-existing model.
See original version (Italian)
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About the sale Paintings and Drawings from the 15th to the 19th century
Auction location
Auction time 10/29/2026 at 3:00 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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