The Birth and Naming of John the Baptist

The Cleveland Museum of Art catalogs The Birth and Naming of John the Baptist as painting (Flanders, early 16th Century · 1496–99).

WHY IT’S INTERESTING

Flemish artists are famed for their attention to minute detail. Here the artist paints a domestic setting from his own time period, complete with details like a brazier for heating in the lower right corner and concave mirror above the bed.

SERENDIPITYA little unexpected

FamiliarWeird

A CLOSER LOOK

The museum identifies this painting as oil on wood and credits Juan de Flandes (Netherlandish, c. 1460–1519).

The museum's collection notes: Typical of Flemish art of the period, this scene suggests a comfortable home of the late 1400s in the Netherlands to frame the story of a biblical birth. Elizabeth, mother of Saint John the Baptist, rests after her labor, while her cousin, the Virgin Mary, presents the newborn to his father, Zacharias. Having lost his ability to speak when he doubted an angel’s prophecy of the child’s birth, Zacharias writes down his son’s name. At this moment, his speech is restored. This painting was once part of an altarpiece commissioned by Queen Isabella I of Castile, known as the Catholic (1451–1504), for a monastery near Burgos.

FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE

The Cleveland Museum of ArtThe Birth and Naming of John the Baptist

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