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John the Baptist Preaching in the Forest
Joachim Wtewael (Dutch, 1566–1638)
1618
- Medium
- Oil on panel
- Classification
- Painting
- Dimensions
- height 86 cm, width 145 cm
- Culture
- Dutch
- Museum
- SMK – National Gallery of Denmark
- Rights
- Public Domain Mark: SMK waives its rights in this photograph, as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Little Ones profiles and older: it shows gentle subjects for the very young. How works are placed
View at the SMK – National Gallery of Denmark
About this work
A troop of Civil Guard soldiers are resting in a forest. The standard-bearer stands in an erect contrapposto pose, the drummer reclines with his drum, the cook, his stock of poultry tied to his belt, sways forward, while the mounted captain and lieutenant are raised above the rest on horseback, dressed in their finery. The main protagonist is, however, John the Baptist, shown standing on a hillock in the middle distance as he preaches the word of God to an attentive assembly of common people. The contrast between the brightly coloured figures from the artist’s own time and the Biblical protagonist in the middle distance is accentuated by the colours. Wtewael’s colour scheme and many variations on the figura serpentinata (a figure turning around its own axis) are typical of the Mannerist style, which Wtewael adopted in Italy and France.
