Torso of a naked man - St John the Baptist 1682 - 1685

This is a preliminary drawing for a painting of St. John the Baptist, created by Luca Giordano in the 1680s. It is now part of the collection of SMK - Statens Museum for Kunst. The sketch is a simple, preliminary drawing, and the viewer can only vaguely make out the figure of St. John the Baptist. The drawing is likely in preparation for a much larger painting that will feature St. John in more detail. This is a study, and the artist used it to determine the composition of the final piece.