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This group is located over the north entrance of the Baptistery. It was commissioned in 1506 to replace a Trecento sculpture of the same subject by Tino da Camaino. Rustici, of noble birth, was considered by his contemporaries as one of the major sculptors in Tuscany. During the commission Rustici and Leonardo shared a house so it is natural that the older man's influence should be felt, although his exact role in the work is unknown.
In the group each statue has its own pedestal and is separated by a column. However, St John, the patron saint of the city and building, is emphasized by his central placement and the poses and gazes of the flanking figures, rather like a triptych in the round. Rustici has them looking down to engage with the viewers below. In the Pharisee, whose huge hand clutches his beard, Rustici's surface treatment is decorative, almost an enlargement of Ghiberti's. It is really the bald Levite that departs from the slighter, idealized figures of the Quattrocento. His powerful arms resemble those of Michelangelo's figures on the Sistine ceiling and the bulges and rolls on his forehead extend Verrocchio's expressive anatomy and reflect Leonardo's studies of the grotesque. The groups intensity recalls Donatello.
The statues are now replaced by copies, the originals are in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo.
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