Painting #B08 - The Baptism of Christ

 The Baptism of Christ
- Andrea del Verrocchio (1436-88, Italian)
- oil on wood (177 × 151 cm) in 1472-75
- Uffizi Gallery (Florence)

The Baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist as recorded in the Biblical Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke.

The angel to the left is recorded as having been painted by the youthful Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519, Italian Renaissance). Modern critics also attribute much of the landscape in the background and the figure of Christ to Leonardo da Vinci as well. [Wiki]

Baptism of Christ
- Piero della Francesca (c.1415–92, Florence)
- tempera on panel (168 x 116 cm) in 1450
(originally part of a triptych for a monastery)
- National Gallery (London)

"Francesca was also a mathematician and excelled in Euclidean geometry. The painting is formed of a semi-circle on top of a square. The dove, representing the Holy Spirit, has its head at the centre of the semi-circle, and its wings on the diameter. The bottom half of the circle is subtly outlined by the landscape.

"Christ, John's hand, the bird and the bowl form an axis which divides the painting in two symmetrical parts. The white tree divides the painting according to a golden ratio. John's arm and leg form two angles of the same size.

"The three angels on the left wear different clothes and are holding each other's hands. This could be an allusion to the contemporary Council of Florence (1431–45), whose goal was the unification of the Western and Orthodox Churches. Such symbolism is also suggested by the presence of figures dressed in an oriental fashion. " Source: Wikipedia