This website presents our knowledge and research on this important aspect of the Royal Collection. As of April 2026 it will not be regularly updated and new research on this topic will sit within the main website.

Saints

Saints

SIMON VALLÉE (1680-C. 1730)

St John the Baptist in the Desert

c.1729

Engraving with etching | 43.8 x 33.6 cm (sheet of paper) | RCIN 851518

A print after a painting then in the Cabinet du Roy, and now in the Musée du Louvre, Paris (inv. no.606); reproduced in reverse. The authorship of the painting, dated around 1517 and attributed on plate to Raphael, is still a matter of dispute. Published in ‘Recueil Crozat’, Paris 1729, plate 14. A photograph of the painting at RCIN 851517.
  • Creator(s)

    Simon Vallée (1680-c. 1730) (engraver)

    After a work previously attributed to Raphael (Urbino 1483-Rome 1520) (artist)

  • 43.8 x 33.6 cm (sheet of paper)

    35.7 x 29.0 cm (image)

    41.9 x 30.5 cm (platemark)

  • S.t Jean Baptiste

  • Added to the Prince Consort's Raphael Collection (c.1853-76)

  • Bibliographic reference(s)

    pp.265-7, no.A12 (Capellen 2005 : Capellen, JM, 2005. Raphael : the paintings. Volume 2, The Roman Religious Paintings ca.1508-1520 )