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The Infant Baptist is attended by four women while Zacharias thanks the heavens for the birth of his son. In the middle ground is Saint Elizabeth. The intense colours allow the painting to be dated to the early years of the artist’s career. A pupil of Albani (1578-1660) and the teacher of Maratta (1625-1713), Sacchi played an important role in the development of the most classical type of Baroque
Between 1635 and 1636 Sacchi left Bologna in order to study the work of Correggio (c. 1489-1534) and the Venetian painters. Before leaving he painted a portrait of his teacher, Albani (1578-1660), aged fifty-six, and kept this image until his death. It was acquired by his pupil Carlo Maratti (1625-1713), from whose collection it passed to that of Philip V after Maratti’s death.
