The Appearance of Christ to the People

Title: The Appearance of Christ to the People

Artist: Aleksandr Ivanov

Medium: Oil on canvas

Size: 540 x 750 cm

Date: 1857

Location: The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow.

John came baptizing in the desert region, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. People from the whole Judean countryside and even people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. As recorded in Mark 1:7-8, his message was “After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

In the foreground of the picture there is a number of male figures, some already undressed, waiting to be baptized in the Jordan River. John the Baptist, in his garb of animal skin under a long mantle, a crosier in his left hand, has turned and raised his arms dramatically towards the lone figure of Christ. He appears on a rocky rise in the middle ground, behind him a broad plain and distant mountains.

Alexander Andreyevich Ivanov (July 28, 1806 – July 15, 1858) was a Russian painter who adhered to the waning tradition of Neoclassicism but found little sympathy with his contemporaries. He spent most of his life in Rome where he was influenced by the Nazarenes, a group of early 19th century Romantic painters who aimed to revive honesty and spirituality in Christian art. The name Nazarene came from a term of derision used against them for their affectation of a biblical manner of clothing and hair style.

It took 20 years to complete The Appearance of Christ before the People (1837-57). Critical judgement about Ivanov improved in the following generation. Some of the numerous sketches he had prepared for The Appearance, most of them in oil, have been recognized as masterpieces in their own right.

St. John the Baptist

Title: St. John the Baptist

Artist: El Greco (Domenikos Theotokopoulos)

Medium: Oil on canvas

Size: 111 x 66 cm

Date: c. 1600

Location: The Fine Art Museum of San Francisco, CA

St. John the Baptist, son of St. Elisabeth and the priest Zacharias, figures prominently in the Gospels. John followed the example of previous Hebrew prophets, living austerely, challenging sinful rulers, calling for repentance, and promising God's justice. He announced the coming of the Messiah, and led a movement of Baptism at the Jordan River in expectation of a divine apocalypse. The messianic figure John anticipated is realized when he baptizes Jesus, initiating the beginning of His earthly ministry. King Herod later has John imprisoned for denouncing his marriage, and eventually he is executed (Matthew 14:1-12.)

This is the finest of the various representations in which St John the Baptist appears in El Greco’s oeuvre. The attenuated figure, the agitated movement of the sky and the scintillating light on the landscape is characteristic of El Greco's work around 1600. This painting is further distinguished from related pictures by the placement of the lamb on the rock - a reference to Christ's sacrifice. The building in the landscape background has been identified as the Escorial, A monastery and palace of central Spain near Madrid.

El Greco (1541 – April 7, 1614) was a painter, sculptor, and architect of the Spanish Renaissance. Today considered one of the greatest artists of the Spanish school El Greco (the Greek) was actually born in Crete, a Greek island under Venetian control. The artist always acknowledged this origin, signing his works with his given name, Domenikos Theotokopoulus, in Greek characters. El Greco's early works demonstrate that he worked within the conservative tradition of Byzantine icon painting before exposure to Venetian High Renaissance art broadened his stylistic approach. El Greco's dramatic and expressionistic style was met with puzzlement by his contemporaries but found greater appreciation in the 20th century.

Baptism of Jesus

Title: Baptism of Jesus

Artist: Unknown

Medium: Mosaic

Size: 210 cm diameter

Date: c. 500 AD

Location: Ravenna, Italy

The Baptistery in Ravenna, Italy was erected by the Arian Ostrogothic King Theodoric the Great toward the end of the 5th century or the beginning of the 6th century. In 565, after the condemnation of the Arian cult, this small octagonal brick structure was converted into a Catholic oratory named Santa Maria. Within the baptistery are four niches and a dome with mosaics, depicting the baptism of Jesus by Saint John the Baptist.

Jesus is shown beardless and naked, half-submerged in the Jordan. On the right, John the Baptist is depicted wearing a leopard skin while on the left stands a pagan god in the guise of a white-haired, old man. He is the personification of the river Jordan. Above, the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove sprays lustral water from its beak. As described in Matthew 3:16: “And having been baptized, Jesus went up immediately from the water, and lo, opened to him were the heavens, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon him,”

The intricate work covering the dome of the baptistery appears to have taken the artists several years to complete as can be clearly seen from the different colors of the stones used to depict grass in the mosaic.