| Baptism of Christ | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | Titian |
| Year | c. 1512 |
| Medium | Oil on panel |
| Dimensions | 115 cm× 89 cm(45 in× 35 in) |
| Location | Capitoline Museums, Rome |
| Accession | PC 41 |
The Baptism of Christ (Italian: Battesimo di Cristo) is an oil on panel religious painting by Titian, dated to c. 1512. It is held in the collection of the Capitoline Museums, in Rome. [1]
In the Baptism of Christ, John the Baptist (top left) rests on Jesus (centre), and the donor, the Venetian Giovanni Ram (bottom right), whom the artist was obliged to introduce into the picture, is connected by a glance with the patron Saint. [2] According to Ricketts, in 1910 the picture was "darkened in part", but the condition was "otherwise good". [3]
Titian painted the Baptism of Christ at the end of his Giorgionesque period, about 1510 to 1512. [4] Though the picture is described by Marc Antonio Michiel (the Anonimo Morelliano ), who saw it, in 1531, in the house of Giovanni Ram (Messer Zuan Ram), the donor of it, it is not accepted by Crowe and Cavalcaselle, but ascribed to Paris Bordone. [4] [5] Morelli restored it to Titian. [4]
I think that owing to a certain slightness in the conception of this work, the majority of writers on Titian have been tempted to under-estimate an intense idyllic charm, which in a painting by Giorgione would have been praised as a virtue. As a work of art it is characterised by that singular mansuetude of conception and neo-pagan blitheness of which Titian had the secret. The entranced gesture of Giovanni Ram aids in this impression. Surely nothing could heighten the tender gravity of this face, watching what might seem otherwise but some Theocritean idyll.
Ricketts,Titian, p. 42.
Gronau and Ricketts both compare the figure of John in the Baptism of Christ (Gallery of the Capitol, Rome),—who kneels, supporting himself by his hand, and in this attitude, the upper part of his body bending forwards, completes the act of baptism,—with the figure of the shepherd in the Adoration of the Shepherds (National Gallery, London), "a more noble figure than the shepherd," says Gronau, "but bearing to him, we might say, the strongest family likeness." [6] The same figure recurs in the Three Ages (Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh). [6] [5]
Benvenuto Tisi, also known as Il Garofalo, was a Late-Renaissance-Mannerist Italian painter of the School of Ferrara. Garofalo's career began attached to the court of the Duke d'Este. His early works have been described as "idyllic", but they often conform to the elaborate conceits favored by the artistically refined Ferrarese court. His nickname, Garofalo, may derive from his habit of signing some works with a picture of a carnation.
The Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica or National Gallery of Ancient Art is an art museum in Rome, Italy. It is the principal national collection of older paintings in Rome – mostly from before 1800; it does not hold any antiquities. It has two sites: the Palazzo Barberini and the Palazzo Corsini.
Adoration of the Shepherds is the title of a lost drawing by Raphael, described in a letter of 8 September 1508, from Raphael to his friend Francesco Raibolini alias Francesco Francia. This letter's contents were first published in 1678, in Carlo Cesare Malvasia's book Felsina Pittrice. Malvasia gave a full account of the letter, which he claimed to have found among the papers of Count Antonio Lambertini in Bologna. While the existence and contents of the letter are disputed, according to Malvasia it described the delivery of a drawing of the Adoration of the Shepherds to Francesco Francia. This drawing has been considered lost or never to have existed.
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Cain and Abel is an oil painting by the Venetian painter Titian. It was made in about 1543–1545 for the church of Santo Spirito, but is now in the basilica of Santa Maria della Salute.
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The Supper at Emmaus is the title shared by several similar works by Titian, two of which are discussed here. The first, made about 1534, is currently on long-term loan to the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool. The second, made about 1545 by Titian and his studio, is in the National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin.
The Ecce Homo is a large oil painting by Titian, signed and dated 1543, which hangs in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. It is not to be confused with several smaller compositions by Titian.
The Allegory of Marriage, also titled the Allegory of Separation, and formerly known as the Allegory of Alfonso d'Avalos, is an oil painting by Titian, made about 1530 to 1535, in the collection of the Louvre. There are several fairly early copies, done after Titian, including two in the Royal Collection.
Portrait of a Man with a Falcon, also called Portrait of a Man of the Cornaro Family with a Falcon or Giorgio Cornaro with a Falcon, is an oil on canvas painting by the Italian painter Titian. It is variously dated from the late 1520s to the 1540s. The painting is in the collection of the Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha.
Portrait of Fabrizio Salvaresio is an oil painting by Titian. It is signed and dated 1558, and hangs today in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, in Vienna.
Portrait of Cardinal Cristoforo Madruzzo is an oil painting by Titian, signed and dated of 1552, which hangs in the São Paulo Museum of Art.
The Virgin and Child with Saints Stephen, Jerome and Maurice, also called the Virgin with Three Saints, is a religious painting by Titian, from c. 1510-1525. It hangs in the Louvre, in Paris.
The Virgin and Child with Saint John the Baptist and an Unidentified Saint, also called the Virgin with Saint John the Baptist, adored by a Donor, is a religious painting by Titian, dated to between 1515 and 1520, which is currently on loan to the Scottish National Gallery.
Portrait of Count Antonio Porcia and Brugnera is an oil painting by Titian, dated to c. 1535-1540. It hangs in the Pinacoteca di Brera, in Milan.
Media related to Baptism of Jesus Christ by Titian at Wikimedia Commons