Artwork Information

Caravaggistic in style, St John the Baptist is shown in contemplative pose, his figure painted very close to the picture plane. Caravaggio painted several versions of the saint, typically including a swathe of draped red cloth which sets off the creamy-golden tones of the saint's flesh. John the Baptist's garment of animal skins indicates his life as a hermit. His traditional attributes are the reed cross which symbolises his faith, and sometimes a honeycomb, which along with locusts, was his food in the desert.