Saint John the Baptist in the Wilderness

Best known as the apostle who baptized Christ, St. John lived his life in the wilderness, rejecting a life of luxury and comfort. He is shown here as a virile young man seated on a rocky slope holding a shell to collect water from a spring, a reference to the future baptism. The slender cross over the shell refers to the future martyrdom of both Christ and John, who was beheaded in his 20s for his teachings about Christ, the Messiah.

St. John the Baptist demonstrates some of important characteristics of Roman baroque painting: a preference for realistic images of people drawn from everyday life, dramatically lit by strong contrasts of light and dark, and arranged in a shallow space close to the picture plane so that their gestures seem to burst out of the picture. By using these illusionistic devices, the viewer would feel like a participant in the unfolding drama.

Luca Giordano was one of the great painters of the Italian Baroque. Born in Naples, he was one of the many artists lured to Rome to participate in the decoration of splendid palaces being built there.