The Young St John the Baptist
This is an 8x10 reproduction of a graphite pencil drawing on paper of The Young St. John the Baptist by Renata Grzan Wieczorek, after the marble sculpture of The Young Saint John the Baptist, c. 1470 by Florentine artist Antonio Rossellino now displayed in gallery #6 at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.
This print mounted on 2mm styrene for durability and can be framed or displayed directly on an easel. (Easel not provided.)
John the Baptist is a great saint to meditate on during Advent since he is the forerunner of Jesus and helps us to prepare our hearts for Him.
There is a beautiful history of the origins of saints depicted as young children that originates from Italy.
During the 1400s, an inspired local cardinal in Florence directed that images of the saints as children be displayed in homes and where children gathered, so that the young may have good moral role models to aspire to that are their own age. The most common themes were the Christ Child and the young St. John the Baptist.
This particular bust of St. John is striking in that in it he is wearing a fine-looking fabric on one shoulder and a camel hair garment on the other, suggesting the choice of two standards that is ever before us. With a sober gaze, at even that young age, the young John is leaning towards the hair shirt, signifying that a life of virtue comes from habits that are formed when we are young.
(More stock on the way.)