Curatorial Notes
This painting depicts a young Saint John the Baptist living as a hermit in the wilderness. His cross of reeds, pointing gesture, and the nearby lamb refer to his role as a prophet foretelling the coming of Christ, the so-called “lamb of God,” in the New Testament. Previously attributed to an unknown Sevillian artist, this painting has recently been recognized as the work of a young Diego Velázquez. The treatment of the saint is more idealized than figures in Velázquez’s earliest work, suggesting that it may have been made after his brief visit in 1622 to Madrid, where Italian paintings in the royal collection exposed him to new ways of portraying the human figure.
Artwork Identification
Title Saint John the Baptist in the Wilderness
Title (PT) São João Batista no Deserto
Title (ES) San Juan Bautista en el Desierto
Artist Diego Velázquez
Artist Bio Diego Velázquez (Spanish, 1599–1660)
Date c. 1622
Work Type Painting
Location & Collection
Institution Art Institute of Chicago
Source View Museum Page
License Creative Commons Public Domain Mark 1.0
