Baptism of Christ

Domenico Ghirlandaio painted this Baptism of Christ around 1488, depicting the foundational event when the Trinity was revealed as Christ entered the waters of the Jordan. The subject was especially resonant in Florence, where the baptistery of San Giovanni was the city's most sacred monument and the Baptist its patron saint. Ghirlandaio's naturalistic style, evident here in the clear figural grouping and legible narrative, was developed for exactly such ceremonial religious subjects. The Tornabuoni Chapel in Santa Maria Novella, where Ghirlandaio was executing his greatest fresco cycle in precisely these years, demonstrates his ability to handle complex multi-figure baptism scenes on a monumental scale; this panel brings the same clarity to a more intimate devotional format.

Tempera on panel with Ghirlandaio's characteristic clarity of drawing and warm, descriptive coloring. The work demonstrates the artistic qualities characteristic of Domenico Ghirlandaio's period.