Saint John the Baptist in the Wilderness

Reynolds painted Saint John the Baptist in the Wilderness around 1776, one of his most ambitious religious compositions. The painting demonstrates Reynolds's aspiration to excel in history painting — the genre he championed in his Royal Academy Discourses as the highest form of art. The youthful saint in a wilderness setting allowed Reynolds to combine figure study with landscape. Now in the Wallace Collection, the painting represents Reynolds's attempt to practice the Grand Style he preached.

Reynolds applies the warm Venetian color and broad handling he admired in Titian to this religious subject. The Baptist's muscular figure is modeled with the dramatic chiaroscuro that Reynolds derived from his study of Italian Baroque painting during his Italian sojourn.