This sculpture in white Carrara marble, worked in the round in larger-than-life dimensions, was originally placed in the first niche from the left on the west side of Giotto's Bell Tower. The figure was created in two phases: in 1415, Bernardo Ciuffagni and then Donatello and Nanni “il Rosso” di Bartolo had developed it as a prophet Joshua. Subsequently, Donatello and Nanni changed the personage to St John the Baptist: we see him as a handsome and beardless young man, with wavy hair and confident eyes, standing firm on legs planted wide, dressed in a tunic and cloak, but barefoot. His head is turned to the left, his hands extending a scroll along his right thigh, where we read “ECCE AGNUS DEI”: to the crowds below, he Forerunner of Christ announces the coming of the Lamb of God.