Skip to content

LEONARDO da Vinci: St John the Baptist

🖼 St John the Baptist, 1513-16
Oil on panel
69 × 57 cm
Paris, France

Emerging from shadow, a youth points upward with mysterious intensity, rendered in Leonardo's sfumato technique with soft, almost imperceptible transitions. This enigmatic figure challenged Renaissance conventions by merging spiritual devotion with androgynous sensuality, establishing an entirely new iconographic type for Baptist imagery.

The story of art
The story of art
E. H. Gombrich
tap to buy ↗
We recommend Bookshop.org — supports independent bookstores
We recommend Bookshop.org — supports independent bookstores