Jan van Eyck 1390 – 1441

The Birth of John the Baptist

illumination (26 × 20 cm) — c. 1423 Museo Civico di Arte Antica, Turin

Jan van Eyck biography

This work is linked to Luke 1:57

This is folio 93-v of the Turin-Milan Hours. That Book of Hours was the property of John, Count of Holland. A number of illuminations was probably made by Jan van Eyck, who worked at the Count's court in The Hague between 1422 and 1425.

The large scene shows the birth of the Baptist. His mother Elizabeth is on a bed in a room. Zacharias sits in another room; he is still stupified.

The lower half of the page shows an initial D and a landscape with the baptism of Jesus.

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