Giovanni Battista Fontana

During the early years he spent in Verona, the painter, draughtsman and engraver, Giovanni Battista Fontana, was greatly influenced by Titian, Veronese and Giulio Romano. He went to Vienna in 1562 and was subsequently active in Innsbruck, where he was appointed court painter to Archduke Ferdinand of Austria in 1575. Bartsch and Passavant attribute a little over seventy prints to Fontana, most of which are etchings reworked with a burin. Adam von Bartsch was unaware of this St. John the Baptist Preaching and there is no mention of it in the critical literature.

The scene has been executed in a concentrated, accurate and technically highly sophisticated etching technique that is typical of Fontana’s printmaking. Echoes of Titian and northern Italian painting of the Cinquecento are readily apparent. Despite the relatively small format the etching is noteworthy for its narrative density and high-quality composition that lend the scene a monumental grandeur. The dense, varied hatching patterns create graphic flowing contours of great subtlety. The etching is of the utmost rarity. We were able to verify just two impressions: one in the Albertina in Vienna and the other in the New York Public Library. A very good, inky impression with the framing line, which has been enhanced in places with black ink. Minor ageing, otherwise in excellent condition.

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