Titian 1487/90 – 1576

John the Baptist

oil on canvas (201 × 134 cm) — ca. 1542 Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice

Titian biography

This work is linked to Matthew 11:11

John the Baptist is shown with his usual attributes: the lamb and the staff. He is dressed, as always, in a camel's skin. In the background is the river Jordan, where John used to baptize people.

Titian made this canvas for St John's altar in the now gone church of Santa Maria Maggiore in Venice. It has been in the Academy since 1807.

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