St. John the Baptist as a child

This is a bust made in the last quarter of the 15th century in Florence after a full-length marble statue by Antonio Rossellino of 1477 for a position above the entrance to the Opera di San Giovanni Battista in Florence, now in the Bargello. The bust is made of stucco and representing St. John the Baptist as a child. Other similar stucco replicas are known.

Antonio Rossellino (1427-28 - 1479) was the brother of Bernardo Rossellino, from whom he possibly received his first formal training. He was of the same generation of sculptors as Desiderio da Settignano and Mino da Fiesole and his stylistic approach resembles that of those sculptors rather then that of his brother.