''Baptism of Christ'' is a tempera painting on

panel Panel may refer to: Arts and media Visual arts * Panel (comics), a single image in a comic book, comic strip or cartoon; also, a comic strip containing one such image *Panel painting, in art, either one element of a multi-element piece of art ...

Giovanni Bellini Giovanni Bellini (; c. 1430 – 26 November 1516) was an Italian Renaissance painter, probably the best known of the Bellini family of Venetian painters. He was raised in the household of Jacopo Bellini, formerly thought to have been his father ...

, dating to 1500–1502, and now located in the Chiesa di Santa Corona in

Vicenza Vicenza ( , ; ) is a city in northeastern Italy. It is in the Veneto region at the northern base of the ''Monte Berico'', where it straddles the Bacchiglione River. Vicenza is approximately west of Venice and east of Milan. Vicenza is a th ...

. It is signed IOANNES / BELLINVS on a rock in the lower left.

Description and style

The work is among the first produced by the artist to show an immersive tranquility of the figures in the space that surrounds them, across the light and atmosphere. These elements suggest that the painter was possibly helped by a young

Giorgione Giorgione (, , ; born Giorgio Barbarelli da Castelfranco; 1477–78 or 1473–74 – 17 September 1510) was an Italian painter of the Venetian school during the High Renaissance, who died in his thirties. He is known for the elusive poetic qualit ...

, or perhaps another student close to Bellini, at least according to the information provided by

Vasari Giorgio Vasari (, also , ; 30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian Renaissance Master, who worked as a painter, architect, engineer, writer, and historian, who is best known for his work ''The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculpt ...

. The painting depicts the baptism of Christ in a fairly traditional composition, with Jesus at the center turned toward the viewer, while

John the Baptist John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...

, at left, baptizes him on a cliff and at right three angelic figures with gaudy dress (

allegories As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a hidden meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory th ...

of the three

theological virtues Theological virtues are virtues associated in Christian theology and philosophy with salvation resulting from the grace of God. Virtues are traits or qualities which dispose one to conduct oneself in a morally good manner. Traditionally they have ...

) await. On high, the figure of God the Father appears among

cherubs A cherub (; plural cherubim; he, כְּרוּב ''kərūḇ'', pl. ''kərūḇīm'', likely borrowed from a derived form of akk, 𒅗𒊏𒁍 ''karabu'' "to bless" such as ''karibu'', "one who blesses", a name for the lamassu) is one of the u ...

and

seraphim A seraph (, "burning one"; plural seraphim ) is a type of celestial or heavenly being originating in Ancient Judaism. The term plays a role in subsequent Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Tradition places seraphim in the highest rank in Chris ...

, which sends forth the dove of the Holy Spirit. The three feminine figures are also recall the angelic figures that are placed at the side of the baptized Christ, in traditional

icons An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most ...

. The gilt line of the early dawn on the bottom semantically marks the desired territory of the divine. The man who is not the ordered center of the universe commands but constitutes all that lives in harmony. Some have attributed the angel in red to the hand of Giorgione. The hut on high and to the right symbolizes the

Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...

; at left, on the summit of the hills, the castle symbolizes the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...

. As in traditional iconography, the water of the river stops at the feet of Christ, to avoid depicting his reflection (in icons, reflections aren't emitted from divine figures). Another symbolic element is the little red parrot, symbol of the

Passion of Christ In Christianity, the Passion (from the Latin verb ''patior, passus sum''; "to suffer, bear, endure", from which also "patience, patient", etc.) is the short final period in the life of Jesus Christ. Depending on one's views, the "Passion" m ...

. An extraordinary part of the altarpiece is the exceptional smoothness of tones that tie together the landscape and the sky, that muffles the surroundings of the enveloped figures, in a surprising anticipation of the

tonalism Tonalism was an artistic style that emerged in the 1880s when American artists began to paint landscape forms with an overall tone of colored atmosphere or mist. Between 1880 and 1915, dark, neutral hues such as gray, brown or blue, often domina ...

that later paintings of

and

Tiziano Vecellio Tiziano Vecelli or Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italian ( Venetian) painter of the Renaissance, considered the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, ne ...

would display. That same luminous modulation—now incidental, now tenuous, now little present—emphasizes the divine axis that goes from the sculptural figure of Jesus to the figure of eternity, that does not reflect his pose and appearance. The landscape is ample and reposed. From the sky falls a warm light that suggests the valleys around the

River Jordan The Jordan River or River Jordan ( ar, نَهْر الْأُرْدُنّ, ''Nahr al-ʾUrdunn'', he, נְהַר הַיַּרְדֵּן, ''Nəhar hayYardēn''; syc, ܢܗܪܐ ܕܝܘܪܕܢܢ ''Nahrāʾ Yurdnan''), also known as ''Nahr Al-Shariea ...

. The wonderful result is a secure capture of the atmospheric perspective and the impasto-ed colors throughout. As has been said, "The colors obtain the density of a breath that comes from the depths". "The personalities, in natural dimensions, pull the spectator into the scene, miraculously in equilibrium between the spectacle of nature and the contemplation of mystery". :it:Franco Barbieri e Renato Cevese, ''Vicenza, ritratto di una città'', pag. 517, Angelo Colla editore, 2004.

References

Bibliography

* Simona Ciofetta, ''Il "Battesimo di Cristo" di Giovanni Bellini in Santa Corona a Vicenza. Patronato e devozione privata'', in "Venezia Cinquecento", 2, 1992, pp. 61–88. ISSN 1825-4799 * Pierluigi De Vecchi ed Elda Cerchiari, ''I tempi dell'arte'', volume 2, Bompiani, Milano 1999. {{Giovanni Bellini category:1502 paintings category:Paintings by Giovanni Bellini Vicenza