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St John the Baptist was a popular subject with Salon sculptors, who generally depicted a youthful figure, rather than the mature saint. This pose was spontaneously assumed by a novice model named Pignatelli when instructed by Rodin to start walking. Another model sat for the head. The whole figure was first exhibited as a plaster in 1880. The bronze edition to which this work belongs was cast by Alexis Rudier, who became Rodin's founder in 1902. It was purchased by Margaret Davies in Paris in 1913.