Carved in limestone around 1220, this figure of St John the Baptist occupies a niche on the right-hand portal of the west façade at Reims Cathedral, a cornerstone of early French Gothic sculpture. The saint is depicted as a solemn, introspective figure draped in a long mantle that falls in gently rippling folds, its surface now softened by centuries of weathering.
John-the-Baptist Theme Pages
A relative of Jesus and considered by Christians to be the precursor of Jesus. John led a movement of Baptism in the Jordan and is reputed to have baptised Jesus. He was killed by beheading after he had condemned Herod for marrying his brother's wife.
See the "Golden Legend" for the medieval story of the birth and death of John the Baptist.
This late 14th century fresco by Pietro di Miniato depicting the Baptism of Christ is the church of Santa Maria Novella, Florence. It is one of three small paintings below the main Annunciation image.
Fra Angelico fresco (1438-1443) depicting the Baptism of Christ in the Dominican monastery of San Marco, Florence.
This section of the fifteenth-century east window at Great Malvern Priory forms part of one of the finest ensembles of medieval stained glass in England. The three surviving lights depict, from left to right, the winged ox of St Luke, St John the Baptist, and St Wulstan, Bishop of Worcester.
This small terracotta figure of the young St John the Baptist, now in the Museo Nazionale del Bargello in Florence, was originally housed in the Opera di San Giovanni, the administrative body of the Florentine Baptistery. It is attributed to Michelozzo di Bartolomeo, whose work bridges the elegance of the late Gothic with the emerging naturalism of the early Renaissance.
The Beheading of St John the Baptist, dated 1531, forms part of the sculptural decoration of the Cathedral of Notre-Dame at Amiens. Executed in richly coloured stone, the work exemplifies the transition from the late Gothic to the early Renaissance in northern France, combining dynamic composition with meticulous craftsmanship.
This stained glass panel of John the Baptist in the Church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste at Montrésor, dates from around 1550, and forms part of the large west façade window above the main doorway. This window, composed of three lights, depicts Saint Peter, Saint John the Baptist, and Saint John the Evangelist beneath elegant architectural canopies. The panels were restored in the 19th century after suffering damage during the French Revolution of 1793; the restoration work was carried out by the Parisian glassmaker Eugène Oudinot.
Carved around 1550 as part of the monumental choir screen of Chartres Cathedral, this sculptural group depicting The Baptism of Christ exemplifies the serene grandeur of French Renaissance religious art. Executed in fine limestone, the relief forms one of a series of narrative scenes adorning the choir enclosure, which was begun in the early sixteenth century and completed over several decades by successive teams of sculptors.
This wall painting at Saint Romain-sur-Cher depicts the "Baptism of Christ", and "Decapitation of John the Baptist" is 16th century, and restored in 1859.
This finely executed Netherlandish roundel of the seventeenth century, now set within the windows of St Mary’s Church, Fawsley, presents St John the Baptist standing beside a kneeling donor beneath a clear, luminous background of pale grisaille. The saint, identified by his camel-skin garment and cross-topped staff, cradles the Agnus Dei, symbol of the Redeemer.
These twin stained-glass lights in the Cathedral of Sainte-Croix, Orléans, created in 1861 by the Lobin Studios of Tours, depict St Elizabeth and her son St John the Baptist. They form part of the mid-nineteenth-century restoration of the cathedral’s glazing, executed under the direction of the prolific French glass painter Lucien-Léopold Lobin.
This relief panel depicting The Baptism of Christ forms part of the richly ornamented font installed in Lichfield Cathedral around 1862. Designed by the architect William Slater and carved by the Scottish sculptor James Forsyth, the work exemplifies the union of architectural design and sculptural craft that characterised the Gothic Revival
These four stained-glass panels in the quire clerestory of Gloucester Cathedral were designed and executed by Clayton and Bell, one of the foremost English glass studios of the Victorian era. The sequence depicts Zechariah and St Elizabeth, the parents of St John the Baptist, together with St John himself and St Simeon
This window depicting The Baptism of Christ was designed by Sir Edward Burne-Jones and executed by Morris & Co. as a memorial to the Revd W. C. Buckley, vicar of Middleton Stoney and a personal friend of the artist. Installed a few years after Buckley’s death in 1882, it stands as both a work of spiritual reflection and a token of private affection within the circle of the late Pre-Raphaelites.
This window by the Auvergnat glass-painter François Taureilles presents St John the Baptist in the wilderness, rendered with the clarity and restrained richness typical of early-twentieth-century French devotional glass. The saint stands barefoot beside the waters of the Jordan, clothed in a camel-hair tunic overlaid by a violet mantle. In his left hand he cradles the Agnus Dei
This ceramic representation of the Baptism of Christ is by Jean Ollin (1958) and can be found in Saint-Pardoux, Mont d'Ore, Auvergne, France.
East window panel depicting John the Baptist. Pruniers en Sologne, Loir-et-Cher, France.
This stained glass window, titled “The Baptism of Christ”, was created by John Hayward and is located in Dunstable Priory. The scene depicts John the Baptist on the left and Jesus Christ on the right, standing together in the River Jordan. Above them, a dove descends, representing the Holy Spirit, symbolizing the divine presence at the moment of Christ’s baptism as described in the Gospels.