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Matteo Civitale executed six life-size, free-standing statues (Adam, Eve, St Elizabeth, St Zacharias, Isaiah and Habakkuk) for the chapel of St John the Baptist in Genoa Cathedral. They are infused with a spirit and aesthetic only partly evolved from Civitale's earlier works and are characterized by pathos and subtly dramatic expressive faces. In particular, the figures of St Elizabeth and St Zacharias possess a quality of realism and emotion similar to contemporary Emilian sculpture.
The picture shows the statues in the Cappella di San Giovanni on the niches in the wall left of the altar: from left to right are Isaiah, St Elizabeth and Eve. In the corner at right is Andrea Sansovino's Virgin and Child (c. 1502).
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