This reclining Saint John the Baptist by Caravaggio, an oil on canvas employing the dramatic light and shadow of tenebrism, remains largely unknown due to persistent attribution disputes following his 1610 death. Its very visual identity has been contested, despite the stylistic echoes of his work. While the specific rendering of the reclining figure and the stark contrasts inherent in tenebrism align with his known artistic approach, much of what we know of its history is clouded by speculation. Accounts from July 1610 describe three paintings —including two Saint Johns —by the artist in Naples. These were destined for Cardinal Scipione Borghese but were seized by the Knights of Malta. Crucially, the Spanish Viceroy of Naples specifically requested "the painting of John the Baptist" be returned, highlighting the contemporary importance of such a piece. Discovered in Argentina and now held privately, the possibility that this Reclining Baptist is that same lost painting, traveling from Spain to South America, lingers. The journey and the ultimate certainty of the figures we see depicted here remain a compelling, yet unresolved, aspect of its story.