St. John from St. John Lateran's Basilica
ca. 1759â70
Classification
figures
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Gift of Noah Butkin
Accession Number
1977-110-3-1
About this artwork
Research in Progress
Art Historical Context
Behold the graceful figure of *St. John from St. John Lateran's*, a sculptural masterpiece attributed to the Italian artist Camillo Rusconi, to around 1759–70. Rusconi, a leading figure in late Baroque sculpture, was renowned for his elegant, dynamic representations of saints and apostles, often commissioned for Rome's grand ecclesiastical spaces. This work hails from the Basilica of St. John Later—Rome's ancient papal cathedral and one of Christianity's most revered sites, dedicated to Sts. John the Baptist and Evangelist—evoking the basilica's opulent tradition of devotional art that blends ...