Saint John the Baptist

Saint John the Baptist is one of Leonardo da Vinci's final paintings, executed around 1513-1516 during his years in Rome and later in France under the patronage of Francis I. The enigmatic figure emerges from complete darkness, pointing upward with his right hand in a gesture that became one of Leonardo's most recognizable motifs. The androgynous beauty and mysterious smile of the saint have fascinated and unsettled viewers for centuries. The painting hangs in the Louvre in Paris, where it arrived as part of the French royal collection after Leonardo's death at Amboise in 1519.

Leonardo pushes his sfumato technique to its extreme here, with the figure dissolving into impenetrable darkness with no landscape or architectural setting whatsoever. The chiaroscuro is so refined that forms seem to glow from within, the transitions between light and shadow imperceptible. The upward-pointing finger and enigmatic expression create a powerful devotional image through the most economical compositional means.