SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST

The artistic preparation of the Perugia born painter, Giovan Francesco Cerrini, called Cavalier Perugino, must have started early in his home city, where he was in contact with Gianantonio Scaramuccia, a student of Annibale Carracci and close friend of Guido Reni. His training thus explains his strong tendency toward the style of painting common in Bologna at the time. This is what would lead to the elevated language of his painting, which was purely classical, without any Baroque influence. Cerrini worked a great deal in his time away from Perugia. He was active in Rome from the 1630s, and in Florence, where he stayed from 1655 to about 1661, and received important assignments from the Medici. He probably did much of his later work in Perugia, such as the two canvasses for San Pietro. Saint John the Baptist, where the figure is in a three-quarter pose, stands out from the darkness of an extraordinary nocturnal scene. The young man is wrapped in sheer fleece, revealing the shape of his body. Skillful manipulation of light adds to the lyrical tone of the painting.