Baptism of Christ

Andrea del Verrocchio And Leonardo da Vinci
(~1470-1475) Wood, tempera, oil.
Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy

Leonardo da Vinci developed as an artist in the workshop of his teacher - Andrea del Verrocchio. The early drawings and paintings of Leonardo clearly show what a wonderful school of realistic art the Renaissance workshop was. Here everything was done in order to teach with early years draw correctly and help master the realistic method.

The relationship between Leonardo and Verrocchio was apparently cordial, although Leonardo never mentioned his teacher in his notebooks. He lived in Verrocchio's house and continued to live there after he was admitted to the Guild of Saint Luke in 1472 at the age of twenty.

While still an apprentice, Leonardo, following the usual procedure, first engaged in rubbing paints and other menial work. Gradually, as experience accumulated and skill increased, they began to trust him with the simplest part of the work for which Verrocchio received orders.

Initially, Andrea Verocchio, a sculptor and at the same time an artist of Tuscany, received an order for the painting "The Baptism of Christ" from one of the monasteries. In his work, the artist was guided by the descriptions of the Baptism of Christ in the Gospel (Matthew 3.3-17), but mainly in accordance with early descriptions: Christ stands in the Jordan River and John the Baptist performs baptism. The dove of the Holy Spirit hovers above them, above the hand of God the Father. On the left, one of the two angels is holding the robe of Christ. In the background, a palm tree, the tree of Paradise, symbolizes salvation and life and, as it were, encloses the place. Clear waters play around steep cliffs, on the mountain horizon.

True, after many months Andrea realized that he could not complete his work in any way, and asked for help from his student Leonardo da Vinci (it is known from archival texts that da Vinci completed the image of some elements of the landscape and a fair-haired angel).

“Verrocchio commissioned Leonardo to paint an angel holding robes. And, although he was a youth, he did it in such a way that the angel Leonardo came out much better than the figures of Verrocchio. (Vasari-1550g)

Further, the art critic Vasari adds that the teacher was so upset by the obvious superiority of his student over himself that he has not touched the brush since. It should be noted that even eyewitnesses sometimes invent dramatic collisions in order to give the necessary, in their opinion, sharpness to their narrative. But the point is not whether Verrocchio gave up writing or not. The fact is that the angel, created by the twenty-year-old Leonardo, bears the signs of a new painting, yet unprecedented in the softness of chiaroscuro, in the charm of the solution of the image, in the originality and virtuosity of the drawing. (I. Dolgopolov)

Of course, not every detail of this story could withstand strict examination, however, the bold assertion that Andrea del Verrocchio stopped painting after this collaboration with a student is perhaps not so implausible. There are some paintings that can be attributed to Verrocchio after the Baptism of Christ.

Is it possible that the master stood aside, giving part of the big picture to the student to draw?
New research provides a more accurate answer than a simple anecdote, showing that the angel on the left side of the picture is indeed different in technique and style from other figures. Leonardo depicted an angel standing on the left, but he did not use tempera, like a teacher, but oil paints, which dry longer and allow him to convey soft chiaroscuro, envelop the image with a light haze. This is how the Leonardo technique “sfumato”, which later became famous, was born.

Even earlier, researchers have already pointed out that in the position of an angel kneeling, movement is felt: it seems that he begins to get up. This style is typical of Leonardo: body turn, head direction, left elbow movement, position right hand. In addition, the delicate shading of the skin tones of the angel's face is distinctly different from the more solid style common in Verrocchio's work.
Some more conclusions can be drawn from technical studies: the body of Christ was apparently remade in oils later, the shading of the skin seems to be softer than on the body of John the Baptist painted by Verrocchio using non-oil paints (tempera), the landscape also shows signs of was redone several times by a younger painter.
However, if the angel in the left edge of the picture, the rewritten figure of Christ and part of the landscape can be attributed to Leonardo, then Andrea del Verrocchio did the entire painting of the altar and most of the details himself.

Be that as it may, the picture well conveys the very birth of this bright holiday, and many art lovers will not be able to take their eyes off the smooth shades of Leonardo's angels and the unusual image of a palm tree in the background. beautiful scenery behind the main players.

That is why his paintings can often be considered not only as unique works of art, but also as the result of serious scientific observations and conclusions.

Leonardo da Vinci - the genius of the era

All his scientific conclusions and discoveries were embodied in drawings, sketches, models, many of which can be equated with works of art, just as works of art - painting, graphics, sculpture, etc. - are the focus of his scientific thought. Many of them, which once seemed fantastic, are now perceived as prophecies. His discoveries were ahead of his time. Therefore, many were not embodied then in reality. It is in relation to the work of da Vinci that the phrase is quite applicable: "There is no limit to perfection." And not at all because the followers can make what he conceived and created better, but because the master himself always strove for the ideal embodiment of the idea so much that this ideal was pushed further and further, and in the end, Leonardo did not finish the work, because he could not achieve desired ideal.

History of the painting

The painting "The Baptism of Christ" for Leonardo da Vinci was the last joint creative project with his teacher Andrea del Verrocchio. At that time, Leonardo had already graduated from the workshop of a famous painter and began an independent path in art. By the time the work was created, he was about 20 years old.

Actually, the figure of Jesus Christ and the image belong to the brush of Verrocchio, and the kneeling angel and the surrounding landscape were created by the young Leonardo. There is a story told that the images created by da Vinci were so much more beautiful than those written by his teacher that Verrocchio stopped creating from that moment on. However, this information is not supported by facts.

It was from the painting "The Baptism of Christ" that his amazing style, called painfully tender, began to appear in the works of Leonardo da Vinci.

Now the painting by Leonardo da Vinci "The Baptism of Christ" is exhibited in the collection of Italy, in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence.

The plot of the work

The plot of the painting "The Baptism of Christ", or the Epiphany, is one of the most popular in world painting of different historical eras and styles. He did not pass by the work of the titan of the Renaissance Leonardo da Vinci.

According to the biblical texts, at the time when the prophet John the Baptist performed the sacred ablutions of people on the shore in Jerusalem, preparing them for the coming coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ was nearby. Once he appeared on the banks of the Jordan and turned to John with a request to baptize him. John was surprised: "I'm not you, but you must baptize me." However, he baptized Jesus and began to be called the Baptist from that time on.

Description of the painting by Leonardo da Vinci "The Baptism of Christ"

In the painting "The Baptism of Christ" by Andrea del Verocchio and Leonardo da Vinci, Jesus Christ stands in the center of the canvas in the foreground. To the left of Jesus (to the right for the viewer) is John the Baptist. In his left hand he holds a staff with a cruciform top, and in his right hand he holds a cup with myrtle, with which he baptizes the Son of God. On the right are two kneeling young angels - the witnesses of the sacrament are having a leisurely conversation.

Quiet and solemn, the nature surrounding them is consonant with the significance of what is happening. Jordan quietly rolls its waters past in the background, as if contemplating and encouraging what is happening. In the sky, we see two palms open towards the viewer, from which a White dove. The palms symbolize God the Father, the dove - God the Holy Spirit. On the one hand, these are symbols of God's blessing of the ongoing sacrament, and on the other hand, the designation of the trinity of the Divine essence, the All-Knowing and All-Seeing, the Omnipresent. In favor of the first, a quotation from the Gospel of Mark speaks: "And when he was coming out of the water, immediately John saw the heavens open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: You are my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

The landscape in the picture, according to some art critics, resembles the view of Monsummano - a place located not far from the homeland of Leonardo - the village of Vinci - one of those dear corners that da Vinci depicted in his canvases.

The symbolism of color in the picture

If we turn to the color scheme of the painting "The Baptism of Christ" by Leonardo da Vinci, we can distinguish the predominance of blue-blue and white shades. And this is not accidental, because from the point of view of their cult meaning, blue-blue tones personify the infinity of the sky, another eternal world, the union of the earthly and heavenly, and White color personified divine light, purity and holiness. It was these colors that were used by the authors when creating images of angels and John the Baptist, but John has a black shirt on his body, which means death. And this is no accident - the service of John the Baptist to the Lord led him eventually to a tragic death. And the red color of the sleeves of God the Father and the loincloth of Jesus Christ means the victory of life over death and love for one's neighbor and for all people. The black stripes on his clothes remind of the coming death of Jesus. Golden stripes, halos and radiance coming from brushes and a dove personify the radiance coming from God, a symbol of His blessing.

The masterpiece of Leonardo da Vinci and Andrea Verrocchio invariably arouses admiration among contemplators. However, in books and other information sources there are practically no reviews of our contemporaries about the work. The question arises: "Why is it that in blogs and on travel pages in VK, among the discussed works, detailed description pictures and reviews of "The Baptism of Christ" by Leonardo da Vinci?"

At the moment of Christ's baptism by John, three miracles happened that did not happen to anyone else who was baptized. GerardDavid. Baptism of Christ (until 1508). Bruges. There are some paintings that can be attributed to Verrocchio after the Baptism of Christ painting.

Part of the picture (some elements of the landscape and a fair-haired angel on the left) were painted by Leonardo. The famous legend of the “defeated teacher” is associated with the angel Leonardo. And, although he was a youth, he did it in such a way that the angel Leonardo came out much better than the figures of Verrocchio.

Being primarily a sculptor, Andrea Verrocchio (1435 / 1436-1488) performed painting commissions intermittently, as a result of which he could not finish one of his paintings - The Baptism of Christ. He asked his student Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), who was young, but had already reached great success, although remaining in the workshop of the teacher. And it came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.

Trinity, repeatedly, though not quite clearly, felt in old testament, here for the first time appears in its entirety,” states the famous theologian C. Scofield. Thirdly, “there was a voice from heaven”—the voice of the Heavenly Father, by which He expressed unconditional approval of Jesus and His mission.

Baptism, according to the teachings of all Christian denominations, is regarded as the introduction of a person into the bosom of the church. This is both an act of cleansing from sin and a second birth, in which the font is a symbol of the Virgin's immaculate womb, from which the initiate is born again. Baptism is the first of the Seven Sacraments and one of the Epiphany of Christ. The baptism of Jesus Christ by John the Baptist is the culmination of John's earthly mission.

In the hagiographic cycles of Christ, baptism usually takes place after the story “twelve-year-old Jesus in the temple” and before the temptation of Christ in the wilderness. In the cycles from the life of John the Baptist, which were especially widespread in Italy in the 14th-15th centuries, it follows the Baptism of the whole people and precedes the arrest of John the Baptist.

However, there are serious differences, on the one hand, between the synoptic gospels (as a whole) and the story of John, and, on the other hand, between the three evangelists.

Painting by Leonardo da Vinci "Saint Anne with the Madonna and the Christ Child"

The subject of the baptism of Christ in art completed its iconographic development around the 10th century. At a later time, only individual details of the composition varied. There are no descriptions of complete baptism by ancient authors. They also repeat the story of the canonical Gospels. Understanding these forms helps to understand the features of the depiction of the baptism of Christ by Western artists. Main actor The story in question is Jesus Christ.

The explanation of such an anachronism must be sought in the very concept of Christian baptism: Christ gave the model of baptism. John the Baptist is usually placed on the right bank of the Jordan from Christ, he lays his hand on the head of Jesus. This laying on of hands as a fact that took place at the baptism of the Savior was noted by early church writers.

The answer to the question of what justifies their introduction, again lies in the plane of tradition, according to which angels, as servants of God, are present at all major events the life of Christ. In the monuments of Western European art, Byzantine examples served as the starting point for establishing the iconography of the baptism of Christ.

Particular attention should be paid to the manner in which baptism was performed: either baptism by immersion in water, or by pouring (or sprinkling). Generally, baptism by immersion was preferred.

In the West until the 15th century, baptism by immersion was dominant. In the center is Christ. He is ankle-deep in the waters of the river, his hands folded in a Catholic prayer gesture. Next to John the Baptist, he pours water from a saucer on the head of Christ (baptism by pouring). Even more mysterious is the appearance of the three angels (we judge them as angels, firstly, by their wings, and secondly, by the place they occupy, the usual place for angels in this scene).

The baptism of Christ, they argued, took place on the same day thirty years later as the adoration of the Magi, and the miracle in Cana on the same day a year after the baptism. This plot is central to the altar; on both sides of it are depicted the “Birth of John the Baptist” (left) and the “Death of John the Baptist” (right).

They follow directly after Baptism in the order given by Matthew (see THE TEMPTATION OF CHRIST IN THE DESERT). An angel with the right brushes of Leonardo... Leonardo began his activity in the seventies of the XV century. After leaving the workshop of Verrocchio, he was accepted as an independent master in the Florentine Guild of Artists. So, on his initiative, the Duke of Leonardo da Vinci Academy was founded. In Milan, he lectured, and probably many of his manuscripts that have come down to us were nothing more than lecture notes.

Significance of Leonardo da Vinci in the history of Italian art

To answer this question, it is necessary to look at the paintings of Leonardo da Vinci one by one and try to understand for yourself what they contained in the sense of feelings, forms and colors. Vasari reports that the painting by Leonardo belongs to the kneeling angel on the right, holding the clothes of the Savior.

Painting of the XV-XVI centuries.

A painting by Verrocchio, painted by him with his students. The portrait of Ginevra de Benci, executed by Leonardo, in turn, is devoid of the melancholy that emanates from the girlish heads of Botticelli. These youthful works, relating to the early youth of the artist, are followed by paintings created by Leonardo da Vinci in Milan.

The artist either depicted how Christ approaches the disciples and endows them with a host, or how they sit at the table. In a burst of genius inspiration, Leonardo chose the words of Christ as the leitmotif: “One of you will betray me” - and by this he immediately achieved this unity.

On the basis of the stories of the evangelists about the baptism of Christ alone, it is impossible to characterize all the details of this plot found in painting. The story of the baptism of Christ is found in all four Gospels. Giotto. Baptism of Christ (1304 - 1306). Padua. Scrovegni Chapel.


Leonardo da Vinci as Plato | on the fresco by Raphael Santi "The School of Athens"|1510-1511|Stanza della Senyatura| Vatican|Rome

As for his own artwork, which we can truly judge by dealing with specific things, then the earliest date back to his stay in the workshop of Verrocchio.
It must be said that the art history problem of Leonardo since his scientific study began, in many respects, was to reduce the number of things that were attributed to him, strange as it may seem at first glance. IN late XIX- the beginning of the XX century in museums and collections of the world, there were hundreds of works by Leonardo. Works, sometimes of very dubious quality, that have traditionally been associated with his name. Leonardo subsequently forged a lot. There was large group artists, followers of Leonardo, the so-called Leonardescos, are his students, students of his students, and so on. And it took decades of work in order to clear the real face of the artist, to remove undoubtedly dubious things, things that can hardly be attributed to Leonardo. Although there is still no single, so to speak, generally accepted body of Leonardo's works.

In various scientific publications, some things appear or are missing, which are included or, in accordance with the installation of this or that author, are excluded from "oeuvres", from Leonardo's work. And his early Florentine works before 1482, the time of his departure for Milan, are determined either from the testimony of Vasari, or on the basis of other literary sources that time.


"Angel"|Fragment of Verrocchio's painting "The Baptism of Christ"| 1472-1475 | oil on wood|Uffizi Gallery|Florence

Usually, the first time in a series of Leonard's works is called an angel from teamwork workshop of Verrocchio "The Baptism of Christ". The participation of students or apprentices in the work of a teacher is a more than common thing, quite natural in the artistic practice of the Renaissance in the 15th century. Sometimes they suggest, say, the participation of the young Botticelli in the work of the workshop of Fra Filippo and other artists who later became famous thanks to their participation in the works of those masters from whose bottag they came out. Vasari quite definitely writes that the figure of the far left angel in this picture was painted by Leonardo. Indeed, this figure is very different in painting from everything else. This picture continues to be somewhat mysterious until now. Firstly, it contains a mixture of techniques – partly it is written in tempera, partly in oil. In some places the oil lies on top of the tempera. Leonardo himself experimented a lot and not always successfully. The figure of an angel, which interests us in this case, is painted in oil. The water and feet of Christ are painted in oil, visible through the clear water of a shallow stream. But this does not necessarily indicate that the feet of Jesus were also painted by Leonardo. The landscape, the figure of Christ, the figure of John the Baptist are executed in tempera. In general, the work is quite archaic, in the spirit of Verrocchio's painting.


"St. Jerome" | c.1480|oil on wood|Vatican Pinacoteca|Vatican, Rome

By the 70s. refers to another unfinished painting, which is attributed to Leonardo by almost all researchers. She depicts St. Jerome. She has fantasy story. Bottom part boards depicting the figure of a saint in repentance and the figure of a lion in the foreground (without the image of the saint's head), was found in one of the Roman antiquaries, it served as the lid of the box. And some time later, in a completely different collection, the upper part of the board with the head of St. Jerome was accidentally found. They were installed later.
The scene of repentance of St. Jerome is by no means new to Italian art. What is new here is something else - Leonardo, as a master of the High Renaissance, prefers to paint large figures, figures of a large scale, quite close to the foreground. In the era of the High Renaissance, we will practically not find an image of a space dotted with a mass of small figures, as it happened many times in the Quattrocento era. Let's remember the compositions of Filippo Lippi or Benozzo Gozzoli in Florence, let's remember Gentile Bellini or Carpaccio in Venice. In the center of the art of the High Renaissance is a figure or several figures in plastic certainty, highlighted by scale. On the other hand, the linear-spatial, rhythmic and three-dimensional development of these figures become much more integral. For Leonardo, it is extremely important here to somehow plastically justify the complex and uncomfortable pose of St. Jerome, to find some kind of not only dynamic, but also expressive, aesthetic effect in this irregular, emaciated figure, in an emaciated and far from classical face. See how the direction of the hand with the stone set aside and the diagonal of the figure of the lion lying below correspond to each other. Perfect repetition, seemingly not balancing parts of the composition, and at the same time holding it as a whole.


Adoration of the Magi|oil on wood|1481-1482|Uffizi Gallery|Florence

In his first Florentine period, that is, before his first departure for Milan, Leonardo left several things unfinished. Perhaps the central work of this period, which is dated to the end of the 70s or the very beginning of the 80s, remained unfinished. This is a large altar custom-made painting "The Adoration of the Magi". It was ordered by the priests of the monastery of San Donato to Leonardo, brought to underpainting, and then left. In the end, many years later, this order was completed by Filippino Lippi, a master who, as it were, was predestined by fate to finish, finish writing for other artists; Let me remind you that he also completed the frescoes of the Brancacci Chapel for Masaccio.


Polenov Vasily Dmitrievich Baptism. 1887-1888.


Baptism of Christ - Tintoretto.


Painting on wood. 1500 CLODVIG I (baptism of Clovis)


Baptism of the Savior Ivanov Andrey Ivanovich. Second half of the 1800s


Andrea Verrocchio and Leonardo da Vinci. Baptism of Christ. 1472 - 1475 "The Baptism of Christ" (Italian: Battesimo di Cristo) - a painting painted by Andrea Verocchio together with his student Leonardo da Vinci


The Baptism of the Lord Semiradsky Heinrich Ippolitovich


Baptism Christ Baptized by Saint John Art. Nicolas Poussin


THE BAPTISM OF CHRIST ADAM ELSHEIMER


Antoine Coypel


PRETI_Mattia_The_Baptism_Of_Christ.jpg Mattia Preti (1613-1699)


Peter Perugino. Baptism


Pietro Perugino. "Composition of the predella polyptych from the Church of Santissima Annunziata: Baptism"


baptism, Pietro Perugino


Baptism Of Christ Joachim Patenier


Patenier Joachim Trittico (1487-1524)


The Baptism Of Christ Cornelis Van


Tsangvidi, Jacopo, Nicknamed Bertoia The Baptism of the Lord


Altar of Saint John the Baptist. Hans Baldung Date of completion of the painting: 1520.


The Baptism of Christ by Guido Remi, c. 1622




Baptism, Piero della Francesca, the baptism of christ


Mosaic of the cathedral of the monastery of Nea Moni on the island of Chios. 1042-1056 Greece


Mosaic of the vault of the Arian Baptistery. End of the 5th century Ravenna, Italy

Early Christian, and later Byzantine art is characterized by the depiction of Christ naked in the Baptism scene. In this case, nudity cannot be an echo of the Hellenistic tradition. Christ appears naked both in the works of regions that had a long tradition of depicting a naked body, and in the monuments of the Syro-Palestinian region, which does not have such a past, and is always more “strict”. Christ is depicted naked, like Adam in the Garden of Eden. This emphasizes that Christ is the new Adam, the perfect God-Man, who came to save the human race from the power of death and sin. Only the works of the XV century begin to depict Christ in a girdled.


Mosaic of the vault of the Orthodox Baptistery. Around the middle of the 5th c. Ravenna, Italy

Reliquary of the Sancta Sanctorum. 6th century Museums of the Vatican. Fragment
This is the earliest depiction of the Epiphany that has come down to us, made on a board - a scene on the lid of a reliquary found in the Roman chapel of Sancta Sanctorum. This work was created at the end of the 6th century in the eastern part of the empire, perhaps in Palestine.
Christ is depicted in accordance with the gospel narrative of the Middle Ages, with a beard. On either side of Him are the figures of two angels, John the Baptist and the apostles Andrew and John. Above the Savior is written the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove, proceeding from the right hand of God the Father. The image of the right hand allows you to decide difficult task images of the indescribable - Why a voice from heaven: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:17)