Saint John

Saint John
Tuscany
Ca. 1220-1230
Polychromous wood
H. 1.70
Cl. 2369

This statue, along with the statue of the Virgin, was part of a group depicting Removal of the Body from the Cross, whose Christ figure is now in Prato Cathedral, Tuscany. This ensemble must be related to those large groupings sculpted over the course of the first half of the 13th century in Umbria and Tuscany which illustrate the Removal of the Body from the Cross. This theme was very much in favour at the time; even more than the Crucifixion, the image insists on the humanity of Christ, who is shown dead thereafter.
These humanised figures add to the movement of the beginning of the 13th century which sees art softened and more sensitive to the world's beauty. The simplicity in the volumes of these sculptures is enriched by the sumptuous polychromy which was redone in the 14th century and is exceptionally well preserved. It is not difficult to imagine the impact these sculptures, cleverly displayed, would have on the devout of the day.