NARRATOR:
This intricate and colorful work comes from Siena in the mid-1400s—the early Italian Renaissance. It represents the Baptism of Christ and was painted by Giovanni di Paolo, a highly imaginative and prolific artist. The panel originally belonged to a cycle of paintings on the life of St. John the Baptist, and formed part of a custodia, or cabinet containing a sacred relic. It depicts the biblical event according to the apostle Matthew:
MATTHEW [ACTOR]:
“Jesus came from Galilee to the [river] Jordan to be baptized by John. … As soon as Jesus … went up out of the water … heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.’”
NARRATOR:
Radiant light streams down from God the Father, past rows of angels and stylized clouds, creating a mystical atmosphere. Swathed in red drapery, John pours water over Christ’s head as he stands in the river. The emphatic lines of the figures and strong hierarchical composition still reflect the influence of Byzantine art, which had dominated Italian painting for centuries.
You may have noticed that the water over Christ’s body is no longer blue. This is because of changes in the blue pigment. It contained copper, which turns brown over time. The wooden panel the picture is painted on also shows signs of aging—it is now slightly bowed from the changing atmospheric conditions over the centuries.
Baptism of Christ
early 1450s
Giovanni di Paolo (Italian, 1403-1482)
On View
The Baptism of Christ belongs to a narrative cycle depicting the life of Saint John the Baptist. The vertical proportions of this and the other eleven surviving panels suggest that they may have formed part of a custodia, or cupboard that contained a sacred relic. By the late nineteenth century, the ensemble had been separated; the panels can now be found in museums across the United States and Europe.
The Simon panel’s composition is an abstracted and hierarchical arrangement. Christ stands in the Jordan river, its banks extending slightly beyond him. The plane of water and land and the row of attendant angels incline steeply toward the golden rays of light, above which God the Father gives his blessing. Giovanni di Paolo’s love of detail and pattern is everywhere evident. His tight, linear drawing creates a tension that, in combination with the sacred narrative, presents a scene of magic and mystery.
Details
- Artist Name: Giovanni di Paolo (Italian, 1403-1482)
- Title: Baptism of Christ
- Date: early 1450s
- Medium: Tempera and gold leaf on panel
- Dimensions: 30 x 13-3/8 in. (76.2 x 34.0 cm)
- Credit Line: The Norton Simon Foundation
- Accession Number: F.1973.07.P
- Copyright: © The Norton Simon Foundation
Object Information
(Sale, Paris, Palais Galliera, 27 March 1971, lot 16, ill., as Sienese School, 15th century, Le baptême du Christ, to);
[David Carrit, Artemis, through;]
[E. V. Thaw and Co., New York; sold 1973 to;]
The Norton Simon Foundation.
[David Carrit, Artemis, through;]
[E. V. Thaw and Co., New York; sold 1973 to;]
The Norton Simon Foundation.
[on loan]
- Princeton University Art Museum, 1973 to
[on loan]
- Phoenix, Phoenix Art Museum, 1980-11-18 to 1981-05-20
- Carli, Enzo, Pantheon, p. 177
- Meiss, Millard, The Burlington Magazine, p. 73
- Glueck, Grace, New York Times, pp. 23, 24
- Zeeland, S. van; and P. Cruysmans, L'Oeil, p. 45
- Pope-Hennessy, John, Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, p. 20
- Lloyd, Christopher, Italian Paintings before 1600 in the Art Institute of Chicago, fig 4. pp. 121-127
- Kanter, Laurence, The Burlington Magazine, NG 5451-54 p. 107
- Pope-Hennessy, John, Giovanni di Paolo 1403-1483, 1938, pp. 80-91
- Brandi, Cesare, Giovanni di Paolo, 1947, no. 62 pp. 44-45, 81-82
- Artemis 72-73: Consolidated Report, 1973, pp. 20-23
- Meiss, Millard, Sts. Elijah and John the Baptist by Pietro Lorenzetti/The Baptism by Giovanni di Paolo 1973, 1973, fig. 6
- Green, Maureen, Realidade, 1974, pp. 45, 46
- Lloyd, Christopher, A Catalogue of the Earlier Italian Paintings in the Ashmolean Museum, 1977, pl. 63 pp. 84-86
- Green, Maureen, Smithsonian, 1981, pp. 38, 43
- Pieper, Paul, Die deutschen, niederländischen und italienischen Tafelbinder bis um 1530, 1986, pp. 532-534
- Panders, Janneke, Akt, 1988, fig. 8 pp. 26-38
- Painting in Renaissance Siena: 1420-1500, 1989, under no. 37
- Masterpieces from the Norton Simon Museum, 1989, p. 17
- Gordon, Dillian, The Fifteenth Century Italian Paintings, 2001, fig. 27 pp. 98-99
- Boskovitis, Miklos, Brown, David Alan, et al., Italian Paintings of the Fifteenth Century, 2003, pp. 324, 331
- Campbell, Sara, Collector Without Walls: Norton Simon and His Hunt for the Best, 2010, cat. 927 p. 352
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