The Naming of St John the Baptist

Title: The Naming of St John the Baptist
Artist: Fra Angelico
Medium: Tempera and gold on panel
Size: 26 x 24 cm
Date: 1434-35
Location: Museo di San Marco, Florence.

Luke 1:59-80: On the eighth day, they came to have the child circumcised. They were going to name him Zechariah, like his father. But his mother spoke up. "No!" she said. "He must be called John." They said to her, "No one among your relatives has that name." Then they motioned to his father. They wanted to find out what he would like to name the child. He asked for something to write on. Then he wrote, "His name is John." Everyone was amazed. Right away Zechariah could speak again. His first words gave praise to God. The neighbors were all filled with fear and wonder. All through Judea's hill country, people were talking about all these things. Everyone who heard this wondered about it. And because the Lord was with John, they asked, "What is this child going to be?" His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit. He prophesied... "And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High God. You will go ahead of the Lord to prepare the way for him... "

The choice of the surprising name indicates that a major lesson of obedience has been learned: when God names a child, that child is significant in his plan. The protest of the crowd shows that they are unaware of what God is doing. Surely the father of the house will not sanction this breaking of custom. So they motion to Zechariah to find out what the name of the child should be. By repeating the name his wife gave, Zechariah echoes the instructions of the angel, not the crowd and custom. He goes the way of God and amazes his neighbors. His obedience yields additional reward: his tongue is loosed immediately and judgment ends. Just as the angel promised in Luke 1:20, the temporary situation of silence ends with the fulfillment of God's word. The point of the linkage is not to be missed: believe and know that God fulfills his promises.

This painting is one of four panels in various collections which belonged originally to the predella of an unidentified altarpiece. The panels illustrate stories from the legends of the Virgin Mary, the apostle St James the Great, St John the Baptist, and Sts Francis and Dominic. The fifth panel of the predella is lost. The altarpiece would have shown the Virgin and Child and the same saints whose scenes are depicted in the predella. The predella panels show the influence of Masaccio's frescoes in the Brancacci Chapel, specific derivations from them can be detected in most scenes.

Fra Angelico (c. 1395 – February, 1455), was a Florentine painter as well as a Dominican friar, having entered a Dominican convent in Fiesole in 1418. He became known as Giovanni da Fiesole, as well as Fra Giovanni Angelico (Brother Giovanni the Angelic One). Although his teacher is unknown, he apparently began his career as an illuminator of missals and other religious books, and then began to paint altarpieces and other panels. In later life he traveled extensively for prestigious commissions.

Annunciation to Zechariah

Title: Annunciation to Zechariah
Artist: Domenico Ghirlandaio
Medium: Fresco
Size: tbd
Date: 1490
Location: Tornabuoni Chapel, Santa Maria Novella, Florence.

Luke 1:5-25: Herod was king of Judea. During the time he was ruling, there was a priest named Zechariah. He belonged to a group of priests named after Abijah. His wife Elizabeth also came from the family line of Aaron. Both of them did what was right in God's eyes. They obeyed all the Lord's commandments and rules faithfully. But they had no children, because Elizabeth was not able to have any. And they were both very old. One day Zechariah's group was on duty. He was serving as a priest in God's temple. He happened to be chosen, in the usual way, to go into the temple of the Lord. There he was supposed to burn incense. The time came for this to be done. All who had gathered to worship were praying outside. Then an angel of the Lord appeared to Zechariah. The angel was standing at the right side of the incense altar. When Zechariah saw him, he was amazed and terrified. But the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zechariah. Your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will have a child. It will be a boy, and you must name him John. He will be a joy and delight to you. His birth will make many people very glad. He will be important in the Lord's eyes. He must never use wine or other such drinks. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit from the time he is born. He will bring many of Israel's people back to the Lord their God. And he will prepare the way for the Lord. He will have the same spirit and power that Elijah had. He will teach parents how to love their children. He will also teach people who don't obey to be wise and do what is right. In this way, he will prepare a people who are ready for the Lord." Zechariah asked the angel, "How can I be sure of this? I am an old man, and my wife is old too." The angel answered, "I am Gabriel. I serve God. I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. And now you will have to be silent. You will not be able to speak until after John is born. That's because you did not believe my words. They will come true when the time is right." During that time, the people were waiting for Zechariah to come out. They wondered why he stayed in the temple so long. When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple. They knew this because he kept motioning to them. He still could not speak. When his time of service was over, he returned home. After that, his wife Elizabeth became pregnant. She stayed at home for five months. "The Lord has done this for me," she said. "In these days, he has been kind to me. He has taken away my shame among the people."

The Biblical episode of the apparition of the Angel to Zechariah is portrayed within magnificent Renaissance church architecture. Zechariah is portrayed on the altar in the centre, with the Angel Gabriel suddenly appearing on his left to announce to him that he will have a son. The scene is crowded with six groups of characters on six different levels. Aside from the group of six maidens on the right, the others are all portraits of contemporary Florentine notables. On the lower left are the Renaissance humanists, including Cristoforo Landino (the one with a black collar) and Agnolo Poliziano (the second from right). The figures standing on the right are relatives of the patron; behind them is a self-portrait of Ghirlandaio (the second from right, next to a youngster with long hair, probably his son or brother, who is also present in the Expulsion of Joachim).

Domenico Ghirlandaio (1449 – January 1494) was an Italian Renaissance painter from Florence. Among his many apprentices was the renowned Michelangelo. Ghirlandaio's compositional schema were simultaneously grand and decorous, in keeping with 15th century's restrained and classicizing experimentation. His chiaroscuro, in the sense of realistic shading and three-dimensionalism, was reasonably advanced, as were his perspectives, which he designed on a very elaborate scale by eye alone, without the use of sophisticated mathematics.

Zechariah Writes Down the Name of his Son

Title: Zechariah Writes Down the Name of his Son

Artist: Domenico Ghirlandaio

Medium: Fresco

Size: tdb

Date: 1486-1490

Location: Cappella Tornabuoni, Florence.

Luke 1:59-80 chronicles that on the eighth day the child was to be circumcised, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, but his mother spoke up and said, "No! He is to be called John." They said to her, "There is no one among your relatives who has that name." Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child. He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone's astonishment he wrote, "His name is John." Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue was loosed, and he began to speak, praising God. The neighbors were all filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things. Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, "What then is this child going to be?" For the Lord's hand was with him. His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied: “You, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins...”

Ghirlandaio has made this composition animated by the unusual device of placing the most important group of people, who are standing around Zechariah, off centre. This means that the baby John is in the centre directly under the middle pilaster in front of a magnificent loggia which opens out onto an extensive landscape. Zechariah, whose spirit is undaunted although he is still mute, expresses amazement that a son has been born to him. While he is asked what name to give his son, he writes on his knees 'His name will be John' - all the while staring at his son, who is held by a woman kneeling reverently before him. Many of the other figures, who seem to be wondering whether this could be true or not, watch in astonishment.

Ghirlandaio (b. 1449, Firenze, d. 1494, Firenze) was an early Renaissance painter of the Florentine school noted for his detailed narrative frescoes. His original name was Domenico di Tommaso Bighordi, and he was the son of a goldsmith, his nickname "Ghirlandaio" derived from his father's skill in making garlands. Almost nothing is known about his training as a painter or the beginnings of his career, but on 1 September 1484, Ghirlandaio and his brother Davide signed a contract to paint the apsidal chapel of Santa Maria Novella. Here Ghirlandaio designed not just the colorful stained glass windows, still at their original location, he also created the altarpiece and its back. The vaulting of the chapel contains the Evangelists while on the left wall Ghirlandaio frescoed the stories of Mary, and on the right the life of St John the Baptist.

The Angel Gabriel appearing to Zechariah

Title: The Angel Gabriel appearing to Zechariah

Artist: William Blake

Medium: Pen and black ink, tempera and glue size on canvas

Size: 26.7 x 38.1 cm

Date: c. 1800

Location: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Events leading up the birth of Jesus began with the birth of his cousin, John the Baptist, being foretold. As documented in Luke 1:5-25, in the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. Both of them were upright in the sight of God, but they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren; and they were both well along in years.

Once when Zechariah was on duty in the temple, and the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside. Then the angel Gabriel appeared to Zechariah, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. But the angel said to him: "Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John.” Gabriel explained that many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth.

Zechariah questioned how such a thing was possible, and because he did not believe what the angel had foretold, Gabriel commanded “And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens." When Zechariah came out of the temple the people waiting realized he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept making signs to them but remained unable to speak. He returned home, and after this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant.

Blake’s depiction of the exchange between Zechariah and the angel Gabriel is set against the dark background, which may have been inspired by prints by Rembrandt. The glittering menorah and luminous garments of the priest and angel appear to glow.

William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Born in London into a working-class family with strong nonconformist religious beliefs, he was largely unrecognized during his lifetime though modern critics now consider Blake a seminal figure in the history of both the poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age. For Blake, the Bible was the greatest work of poetry ever written, and comprised the basis of true art, as opposed to the false, pagan ideal of Classicism.