2-739-575 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Saint John the Baptist, c. 1500. John the Baptist is depicted here wearing his traditional camel hair fleece beneath a luxuriant outer mantle trimmed with embroidery and pearls. The lamb, a symbol of Christ in his sacrificial role as the Redeemer, rests on the closed book in the saint’s left hand. The sculpture is attributed to Jan Crocq, who is noted for his naturalistic treatment of hair and clothing. Crocq may have made it for the Sainte-Chapelle of Dijon, a chapel known to have featured clerestory sculptures mounted high on consoles within its apse. The museum’s collection of medieval art is celebrated, and the acquisition of this beautiful, late Gothic sculpture enables us to represent the history of Burgundian art up to its final stage.