FRANCESCO D'UBERTINO VERDI called BACHIACCA, workshop (1494 Florence 1557) St John the Baptist. Oil on wood. 31 × 22 cm. Provenance: Swiss private collection, Château de Courtaney. The painting of St John the Baptist offered here skilfully combines the figurative painting of Italian art with lush landscapes north of the Alps. The carefully elaborated animal world with deer and birds as well as the meticulously detailed flora are characteristic features of Francesco d'Ubertino Verdi, who called himself Bachiacca. The composition of St John the Baptist has survived in a drawing (black chalk on paper, 27.2 × 18.6 cm) by Francesco Bachiacca, which is currently on sale in New York. Robert La France recognises in our version a work from Bachiacca's workshop, the Verdi family following the master, for which we thank him. Another version on the same subject painted by Bachiacca in oil can be found in the Utah Museum of Fine Arts (oil and gold ground on wood, 41.9 × 28.6 cm, inv. no. 1973.080.005.001) in which the landscape elements in the background have been emphasised more strongly. In terms of style, La France compares our depiction with the painting Triumph of Time (oil on wood, 32 × 25 cm, formerly David M. Koetser Gallery Zurich, in: Robert La France: Bachiacca: artist of the Medici Court, Florence 2008, cat. no. 154, p. 299, fig. 97), which is also attributed to the Verdi family workshop. The roe deer in particular shows stylistic parallels with our depiction. Francesco d'Ubertino Verdi, known as Bachiacca, was one of the most influential artists of Florentine Mannerism, whose family of artists, characterised by success, flourished during the 16th century. Alongside his brothers Baccio (1484-1526/29) and Antonio (1499-1572) and his father Ubertino di Bartolomeo (1446-1505), Francesco was the most talented and best known of the Verdi family. His artistic career began under the influence of Pietro Perugino (1545/48-1523), under whom he was able to develop and refine his own style, finally reaching a peak when he joined the painters' guild Arte de' Medici e Speziali in 1529. Bachiacca's works were highly regarded at the court of the Medici family. His unmistakable hybrid style at the time illustrates that his cosmopolitan taste inspired the vibrant pictorial culture of the Florentine Renaissance and met the demands of his privileged clientele (see Robert La France 2008, pp. 31-33).