The Baptism of Christ (Verrocchio)

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The Baptism of Christ

Andrea del Verrocchio, 1472-1475

Oil on wood

177 × 151 cm

Uffizi, Florence

The Baptism of Christ is a painting finished around 1475 by the Italian Renaissance painter Andrea del Verrocchio and his workshop. It is housed in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence.

Commissioned by the monastery church of San Salvi in Florence, where it remained until 1530, the picture was executed in the workshop of Andrea del Verrocchio, whose style is well defined by the figures of Christ and Baptist. The special fame of the work is due to the pupil who helped him paint it. The blond angel on the left and the landscape background belong to the hand of the very young Leonardo da Vinci, who was in Verrocchio's workshop around 1470. Some critics ascribe the second angel to another young Florentine artist, Sandro Botticelli.

The painting portrays St. John the Baptist baptizing Jesus by pouring water over his head. The extended arms of God, the golden rays, the dove with outstretched wings, and the cruciform nimbus show that Jesus is the Son of God and part of the Trinity. Two angels on the riverbank are holding Jesus' garment. The composition is attributed to Verrocchio, although there can be no definite answer as to which artist produced it.