Giovanni di Paolo, 'The Baptism of Christ: Predella Panel', 1454
About the work
Overview
Christ stands in a river, the water up to his waist. John the Baptist pours a cup of water over his head, baptising him. As he does, God the Father appears in the sky, surrounded by angels, while a dove, the symbol of the Holy Ghost, descends towards Christ in golden rays.
The scene reflects John’s report of the event found in the Gospel of John: ‘I saw the Spirit descend as a dove from heaven, and it remained on him.’
The artist was inspired by the Florentine sculptor Lorenzo Ghiberti, who made two sculpted scenes of Christ’s baptism in bronze. The symmetry of this scene resembles the one that Ghiberti made to decorate the doors of the Florence Baptistery. The poses and gestures look like those in the scene Ghiberti made for a baptismal font in Siena – where Giovanni di Paolo worked.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- The Baptism of Christ: Predella Panel
- Artist
- Giovanni di Paolo
- Artist dates
- active by 1417; died 1482
- Part of the series
- Baptist Predella
- Date made
- 1454
- Medium and support
- egg tempera on wood
- Dimensions
- 31 × 45 cm
- Acquisition credit
- Bought with a contribution from the Art Fund, 1944
- Inventory number
- NG5451
- Location
- Room 58
- Collection
- Main Collection
- Previous owners
- Frame
- 15th-century Sienese Frame with Later Interventions (original frame)
About this record
If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.
Images
About the series: Baptist Predella
Overview
These four panels once formed part of a predella, the lowest part of an altarpiece. Together they tell the story of the life of John the Baptist, the prophet who preached the coming of Christ as the Messiah.
Events run from left to right like a comic strip. At the far left edge was a scene showing John’s birth, followed by his departure into the wilderness and then the baptism of Christ – the main event in John’s life. Another panel, which may have shown John preaching in the wilderness, would have followed, but this did not enter the National Gallery’s collection with the other panels and we don't know where it is now. The final scene shows the saint after his execution.
The predella was probably part of an polyptych (a multi-panelled altarpiece) made by Giovanni di Paolo for the Augustinian church in Cortona.
Works in the series
More works by Giovanni di Paolo
