The Baptism of Christ (Verrocchio and Leonardo)
| The Baptism of Christ | |
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Uffizi Gallery , Florence |
The Baptism of Christ is an oil-on-
The picture depicts the
Subject matter
The picture depicts the Baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist on the banks of the Jordan River. There are two kneeling angels, one holding Jesus's garment, and the other with its hands folded, both in front of the symbolization of salvation and life, the palm tree.[2] While barefoot in the river, John the Baptist is clothed in robes with a halo over his head. He is holding a staff with a gold cross at the top as he pours the river water on Jesus's head.[2] Jesus has a halo over his head as he is depicted praying barefoot in the river. He has a small garment covering his genitals with visible pubic hair peeking through.[2] The scroll by John's left hand contains the two Latin words "ECCE AGNUS", a reference to a phrase in the description of Jesus' baptism in the Vulgate translation of John 1:29, Ecce agnus Dei, qui tollit peccata mundi ("Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world"). [3] There is also a bright-eyed raptor that swoops down over the head of John and into the trees in the background. God's hands can be seen at the top of the painting coming from heaven as it opens up.[2] A dove and rays of sunlight shine through which symbolize the holy spirit shining above them revealing Jesus's divine nature.[2]
History
Verrocchio was not himself a prolific painter and very few pictures are attributed to his hand, his fame lying chiefly in his sculptured works. Verrocchio's paintings, as are typical of Florentine works of that date, are in
According to Antonio Billi (1515), the painting was commissioned by Verrocchio's brother Don Simone, the head of the monastic Church of
William E. Wallace proposes that after Leonardo's creation of the first angel, Verrocchio added the second angel to accompany Leonardo's.[11] Wallace concludes that Verrocchio's guidizio dell'occhio ("true eye") caught the need for this angel to be added to the right to rebalance the composition. Most Italian paintings from the 14th and 15th centuries of this religious subject include two or more angels.[13] According to more recent technical analysis, Verrocchio began this altarpiece around 1468, which was then put aside for some years before Leonardo reworked portions of the painting's surface in the 1470s.[14]
Provenance
The painting was at some point transferred from the Church of San Salvi to the Vallombrosan Sisterhood in Santa Verdiana.[9][10][verification needed] In 1810, it entered the collection of the Accademia and passed to the Uffizi in 1959.[10]
See also
References
- ^ "Cavallini to Veronese - Italian Renaissance Art".
- ^ ISBN 9783822859797.
- JSTOR 4119874– via JSTOR.
- ISBN 0-7064-0857-8
- ^ ISBN 9781501139161.
- ^ JSTOR 42616226– via JSTOR.
- ^ Passavant, Günter. "Andrea del Verrocchio: Italian painter and sculptor". Britannica.
- ^ ISBN 9780191605482.
- ^ ISBN 9780691183367.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-14-008649-2
- ^ a b Masters in Art: A Series of Illustrated Monographs. Boston, MA: Bates and Guild Company. 1905.
- ^ a b Wallace, Robert (1966). The World of Leonardo: 1452–1519. New York: Time-Life Books. pp. 27–28.
- S2CID 192981208– via JSTOR.
- JSTOR 42616226– via JSTOR.
Further reading
- Brown, David Alan (1998). Leonardo da Vinci: Origins of a Genius. New Haven: Yale University Press.
External links
- Leonardo da Vinci: anatomical drawings from the Royal Library, Windsor Castle, exhibition catalog fully online as PDF from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which contains material on The Baptism of Christ (see index)
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