# Silver Altar: Birth of St John the Baptist [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [POLLAIUOLO brothers]() - Date: 1451-1500 - Technique: Silver relief ## Commentary Antonio Pollaiuolo's major works as a goldsmith and embroidery designer were made for the Baptistery in Florence. His documented liturgical silverwork includes a silver relief of the Birth of St John the Baptist, one of a group of four ordered by the Calimala on 24 July 1477 to complete the decoration of the silver altar of the Baptistery. As in <a onclick="return OpenOther\('/html/p/pollaiol/piero/annuncia.html'\)" href="/html/p/pollaiol/piero/annuncia.html">Piero Pollaiuolo's Annunciation</a> \(Staatliche Museen, Berlin\), the scene is set in an elaborate contemporary interior in which the slim figures, clothed in loosely flowing robes, move and gesticulate gracefully. Stylistically the relief blends well with the Late Gothic character of the scenes on the front of the altar, unlike the more dramatic, but less appropriate, treatment of the Beheading of St John the Baptist <a onclick="return OpenOther\('/html/v/verocchi/sculptur/beheadin.html'\)" href="/html/v/verocchi/sculptur/beheadin.html">cast in silver by Verrocchio</a> as his contribution to the same project. ## Related artworks - [Altarpiece of the Sts Vincent, James, and Eustace]() - [Angel \(detail\)]() - [Apollo and Daphne]() - [Battle of Ten Nudes]() - [Battle of Ten Nudes]() - [Battle of Ten Nudes]() - [Bust of a Young Warrior]() - [David Victorious]() - [Hercules and Antaeus]() - [Hercules and Antaeus]() - [Hercules and Antaeus]() - [Hercules and Antaeus]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()