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About This Work
A youthful, athletic figure sits in a wilderness setting, draped in a camel-skin cloak and looking directly at the viewer. His right hand points upward in a characteristic gesture of revelation, while his left hand holds a winding scroll. Two gilded heraldic shields are visible in the dark foliage behind him, representing the patrons of the work.
In the Neoplatonic circles of the Italian Renaissance, Saint John the Baptist was often viewed as a figure of the 'voice' or 'intellect' preparing the way for divine light. The upward-pointing gesture, popularized by Leonardo da Vinci and adopted here by Raphael, signifies the connection between the terrestrial and the celestial realms, central to the Hermetic and Neoplatonic thought of the Medici court.