Saint John the Baptist (c. 1505): Art, History and Details

Saint John the Baptist (c. 1505) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Giulio Campagnola (Italian, 1482–1515).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Slender and weathered from preaching in the wilderness where he lived on locusts and wild honey, John the Baptist carries a bowl of water, symbolizing his role as the baptizer of Christ. In this print, Campagnola combined engraved lines with his innovative stipple technique, in which tiny dots softly shade the surface of the saint’s body and produce the hazy atmosphere of the rustic landscape.

Object facts

• Title: Saint John the Baptist
• Date: c. 1505
• Creator attribution: Giulio Campagnola (Italian, 1482–1515)
• Culture: Italy
• Type: Print
• Technique: engraving
• Dimensions: Image: 34.3 x 23.7 cm (13 1/2 x 9 5/16 in.); Sheet: 34.3 x 23.7 cm (13 1/2 x 9 5/16 in.)
• Collection: PR - Engraving
• Department: Prints
• Accession number: 1934.247

A detail from the museum

The small bowl held by the saint signifies his role as baptizer of Christ.

Collection credit

Dudley P. Allen Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Prasse, Leona. "An Engraving of 'St. John the Baptist' by Giulio Campagnola." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 22, no. 2 (February 1935): 15-18
• Francis, Henry Sayles. Venetian Tradition: Catalogue of the Exhibition. [Cleveland, Ohio]: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1956.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.