The Preaching of Saint John the Baptist

Huesca Museum houses five panels depicting scenes from the life of Saint John the Baptist: The Visitation, The Birth of Saint John the Baptist, The Baptism of Jesus, The Preaching of Saint John the Baptist, and The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist. Believed to have come from the altarpiece of Saint John the Baptist in the Monastery of Santa María in Sigena, they were part of Valentín Carderera's founding donation to the museum. The complete cycle would have included two other panels, which are kept in the Zaragoza Museum (Museo de Zaragoza): The Baptism of Saint John the Baptist (The Naming of Saint John) and The Preaching of Saint John the Baptist in the Desert. Part of the Hispano-Flemish trend, they are attributed to an anonymous Aragonese artist and are dated around 1500. A chapel featuring a Gothic altarpiece notably forms the background to this scene, in an intentionally anachronistic use of space.