Shop art print and framed art St John the Baptist by Caravaggio

John the Baptist is one of the works undertaken by Caravaggio in 1604. Bellini's John the Baptist takes place in a conventional setting that his audience knows and shares. Caravaggio was more private. In 1604, he was commissioned to paint a John the Baptist for the banker Ottavio Costa - who at the time owned Judith and Holofernes and Martha and Mary Magdalene. They were intended for an altarpiece in a small church on the Italian coast, but only the copy was sent, while Costa kept the original, which went to Kansas City. Peter Robb, Caravaggio's biographer, points out that this painting is a psychological representation of the first John the Baptist. The elements used, such as the glowing morning, the reed, which prefigures the passion of Christ, his cousin, and the colours, have become emblematic of the sadness reflected in this painting. Giotto and Bellini had painted Baptists similar to this one, but Caravaggio makes it accessible and without so many complexes. It is radically [...]

 

This artwork is a painting from the classical period. It belongs to the baroque style.

 

« St John the Baptist » is kept at Capitoline Museums, Rome, Italy.

 

Find the full description of St John the Baptist by Caravaggio on Wikipedia.