John the Baptist preaching in the desert
Inscribed Martin verso. Watercolor 23 x 29 cm.
Related to Elias Martin's large painting "Johannes Döparen Predikar i öknen" (John the Baptist Preaching in the Desert), painted towards the end of his stay in England, 1768-1780, exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1779 (Nationalmuseum, Stockholm NM2664) (R. Hoppe, Elias Martin, 1933, p. 186-87, p. 296, no. 132), illustrated on page 184; M. Ahlund, Landskapets röster. Studier I Elias Martins bildvärld, 2011, p. 96-100, illustrated in color). Hoppe considers this painting to be one of the artist's finest landscapes. The painting may very well have been seen by the Swedish sculptor Johan Tobias Sergel (1760-1814) during his visit to Elias Martin's studio in London in the spring of 1779, when he returned to Sweden after his 10-year-long stay in Italy (Nationalmuseum 625) /1875).