The Witness of John the Baptist
- Date
- 1310–20
- Material
- Tempera on panel
- Classification
- Paintings
- Collection
- European Art to 1800
- Current Location
- On View, Gallery 222
- Dimensions
- 24 x 26 1/8 in. (61 x 66.4 cm)
- Credit Line
- Museum Purchase
- Rights
- Public Domain
- Object Number
- 46:1941
NOTES
Standing among a crowd, Saint John the Baptist gestures towards Christ (shown perched upon a rocky outcropping). John proclaims, “Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world.” Derived from the Gospel of John the Evangelist, the words are written in the scroll that John the Baptist holds. Only the word “Ecce” (behold) is visible because the panel has been cut down along its lower edge. This picture represents a late medieval approach to biblical illustration in which the elegant and appealing figures are painted with little indication of fully realized bodies beneath their robes, and the distance between the foreground crowd and the precariously balanced figure of Christ cannot be determined. Nonetheless, the artist’s style of flat, curvilinear lines, well-defined facial features, and simplified shapes that suggest the background rocks, suits the subject well.
Provenance
- 1935
Charles Percival Rowley (born c.1827), Priory Hill, St. Neots, Huntingdonshire, England; Owsley Vincent Fydell Rowley (1885-1941?), Morcott Hall, Uppingham, Rutland, England
1935/12/02
In auction, at the sale of the Rowley collection, Christie, Manson, and Woods, London, December 2, 1935, lot no. 53 [1]
by 1936 -1941
Arnold Seligmann, Rey & Co., Inc, New York, NY, USA [2]
1941 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, purchased from Arnold Selgimann, Rey & Co. [3]
Notes:
[1] The painting is listed as being in the collections of Charles P. Rowley, followed by his son, Owsley Rowley, in the 1935 sales catalogue ["Catalogue of Old Pictures: The Property of O. V. F. Rowley, Esq. Removed from Morcott Hall, Uppingham, Rutland," Christie, Manson, and Woods, London, December 2, 1935].
[2] The work was in Seligmann's possession by late 1936 when Hans Gronau and Lionello Valentiner sent statements of authentication to the dealer [see comments on the bill of sale dated March 10, 1941, SLAM document files]. Most likely the painting was purchased at the 1935 auction of the Rowley collection since Seligmann does not list any other previous owners on the sales certificate except for the Rowley family.
[3] See note [2]. Minutes of the Administrative Board of Control of the City Art Museum, April 3, 1941.
Charles Percival Rowley (born c.1827), Priory Hill, St. Neots, Huntingdonshire, England; Owsley Vincent Fydell Rowley (1885-1941?), Morcott Hall, Uppingham, Rutland, England
1935/12/02
In auction, at the sale of the Rowley collection, Christie, Manson, and Woods, London, December 2, 1935, lot no. 53 [1]
by 1936 -1941
Arnold Seligmann, Rey & Co., Inc, New York, NY, USA [2]
1941 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, purchased from Arnold Selgimann, Rey & Co. [3]
Notes:
[1] The painting is listed as being in the collections of Charles P. Rowley, followed by his son, Owsley Rowley, in the 1935 sales catalogue ["Catalogue of Old Pictures: The Property of O. V. F. Rowley, Esq. Removed from Morcott Hall, Uppingham, Rutland," Christie, Manson, and Woods, London, December 2, 1935].
[2] The work was in Seligmann's possession by late 1936 when Hans Gronau and Lionello Valentiner sent statements of authentication to the dealer [see comments on the bill of sale dated March 10, 1941, SLAM document files]. Most likely the painting was purchased at the 1935 auction of the Rowley collection since Seligmann does not list any other previous owners on the sales certificate except for the Rowley family.
[3] See note [2]. Minutes of the Administrative Board of Control of the City Art Museum, April 3, 1941.
We regularly update records, which may be incomplete. If you have additional information, please contact us at provenance@slam.org.