John the Baptist Portrayed in Art
Saint John The Baptist
There are countless portrayals of John the Baptist and the representation of his relationship to Jesus and to the Church. John has been one of the saints most frequently appearing in Christian art. The Baptism of Christ was one of the earliest scenes from the life of Christ to be frequently depicted in Early Christian art. John's tall, thin, and bearded figure is already established and recognizable by the 5th century. In the Gospel of Luke, we are first introduced to him when Mary goes to tell her cousin, Elizabeth, the news of her pregnancy. Elizabeth, already six month’s pregnant, felt the unborn child “jump for joy” in her womb. According to the Gospels, John declared, “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord.’” Christians interpret this to mean that John was sent to prepare for the coming of the Messiah. John does just this, when he is the one who recognizes Jesus as the Messiah and baptizes him. The baptism marks the beginning of Jesus' ministry. Because this was said to be the beginning, John is know as John the Baptist and John the Forerunner. We will describe the appearance of John the Baptist further in our analysis and how this depicts his life hundreds of years later. The first work, titled “John the Forerunner” was done by an unknown iconographer in the typical Orthodox style during the 11th Century. It follows the prototypes established for John the Baptist within the Eastern tradition. In fact, the orthodox often refer to John as the Forerunner, as you see in this piece, because as stated before, he led the way for Christ’s arrival. As most orthodox works are, John is very still and lacking emotion, and there is no emphasis on three dimensionality. The mosaic relies heavily on symbolism instead, by portraying John with a scroll in his left hand and a gesture pointing up to Jesus Christ with his right hand. The iconic imagery of the scroll symbolizes John’s importance and
There are countless portrayals of John the Baptist and the representation of his relationship to Jesus and to the Church. John has been one of the saints most frequently appearing in Christian art. The Baptism of Christ was one of the earliest scenes from the life of Christ to be frequently depicted in Early Christian art. John's tall, thin, and bearded figure is already established and recognizable by the 5th century. In the Gospel of Luke, we are first introduced to him when Mary goes to tell her cousin, Elizabeth, the news of her pregnancy. Elizabeth, already six month’s pregnant, felt the unborn child “jump for joy” in her womb. According to the Gospels, John declared, “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord.’” Christians interpret this to mean that John was sent to prepare for the coming of the Messiah. John does just this, when he is the one who recognizes Jesus as the Messiah and baptizes him. The baptism marks the beginning of Jesus' ministry. Because this was said to be the beginning, John is know as John the Baptist and John the Forerunner. We will describe the appearance of John the Baptist further in our analysis and how this depicts his life hundreds of years later. The first work, titled “John the Forerunner” was done by an unknown iconographer in the typical Orthodox style during the 11th Century. It follows the prototypes established for John the Baptist within the Eastern tradition. In fact, the orthodox often refer to John as the Forerunner, as you see in this piece, because as stated before, he led the way for Christ’s arrival. As most orthodox works are, John is very still and lacking emotion, and there is no emphasis on three dimensionality. The mosaic relies heavily on symbolism instead, by portraying John with a scroll in his left hand and a gesture pointing up to Jesus Christ with his right hand. The iconic imagery of the scroll symbolizes John’s importance and