caption

Gian Martin Spanzotti, St John the Baptist

Photo courtesy of Dave Penman (All Rights Reserved)

Details

Country House
Mells Manor
Title(s)
St John the Baptist
Medium and support
Oil on wood
Dimensions
Overall height: 115 cm, Overall width: 40 cm
Artist
Gian Martin Spanzotti (active c.1480-1526)
Catalogue Number
MM18

Description

At Mells the present panel, whose high quality has been remarked on – from a photograph – by Dr Laurence Kanter, bears the name of Gian Martino Spanzotti.1 It is not known to whom this attribution should be credited but it is likely to be correct. Whether it is a fragment of a larger panel or originated as a section of a polyptych is uncertain but, as far as can be ascertained from a photograph of the panel unframed, the latter is more likely. A search for companions would probably be worthwhile. The type of the Baptist and the forms of the landscape are close to those of Spanzotti’s Baptism of Christ in Turin Cathedral, of 1508–10, and the date of this panel is likely to be similar.

by Paul Joannides

Footnotes

  1. Dr Laurence Kanter, private communication, 2020.

    1

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