# Saint John the Baptist Preaching in the Desert

- By: Jean Baptiste Henri Deshays (French, 1729–1765)
- Date: c. 1758–64
- Medium: Oil on canvas
- Classification: Painting
- Dimensions: 42.2 × 26.5 cm (16 5/8 × 10 7/16 in.); Framed: 59.4 × 44.3 × 7.4 cm (23 3/8 × 17 7/16 × 2 7/8 in.)
- Culture: France
- Credit line: Gift of Mrs. Eugene A. Davidson
- Museum: [Art Institute of Chicago](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/105704)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://invisiblenetwork.ai/thumbs/web/1dd4839b69acfce80417fe7e332b687e.jpg
- Who can see it: Tweens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

A precocious talent, Jean-Baptiste Deshays married Rococo artist François Boucher’s daughter and became his father-in-law’s protégé. Although best known as a painter of religious subjects, Deshays often employed the soft, highly fluid manner that Boucher used for his amorous “boudoir” pictures. In fact, this work was for a long time believed to be by Boucher. The subject of the painting derives from the Gospel of Matthew: Seated before the multitude with his arms dramatically outstretched, John the Baptist warns, “Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0