The Baptism of Christ in the Jordan

‘And it came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan. And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him’ (Mark 1, 9-10). It is this New Testament story that Van Scorel has illustrated here. To the left of centre stands the Jewish preacher John the Baptist. Jesus sits under a tree. The dove flies to the right of the tree. In creating this scene, Van Scorel was clearly inspired by works by Italian masters of his time, among them Giorgione (the landscape) and Raphael (the three male figures on the right). Van Scorel spent the years 1520 to 1524 in Italy. He was even curator of the Vatican art collection for a while, so that he became very familiar with modern Italian painting. He painted this work for the important Haarlem monastery, St John’s Commandery, on his return from Italy.