Saint John the Baptist altarpiece

Lluís Borrassà was the most important Catalan painter of the late fourteenth and early fifteenth century, working in Barcelona and across Catalonia on major altarpiece commissions before the arrival of Flemish influence reshaped the regional tradition. His Saint John the Baptist Altarpiece belongs to the Gothic altarpiece tradition he dominated — multiple registers of narrative panels framing a central image of the titular saint — and reflects the International Gothic style at its most developed in Catalonia, combining French elegance with Catalan decorative richness. John the Baptist was among the most frequently commissioned saints in Catalan altarpieces because of his role as precursor and his strong presence in the Catalan liturgical calendar.

Borrassà's technique uses the gold-ground Sienese-derived tradition that reached Catalonia through Ferrer Bassa and his circle, with elaborate gold tooling in the halos and backgrounds. His narrative scenes are distinguished by an energetic figure type — more vigorous than French Gothic, with drapery in active movement — that carries the stories effectively across the small predella format.