Arcadópolis
The Baptism of Christ (with Verrocchio)
Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1472–1475
What you see
Christ stands in the shallow water of a river, at the center, hands joined and a striped cloth at his waist. On the right, a lean man holding a tall cross pours water over his head from a small bowl. On the left, two kneeling angels watch; one holds a cloth. Above, a pair of open hands and a white dove send golden rays downward.
The bodies show clearly defined muscles and bones, modeled gently by the light. The landscape recedes in bluish tones, with water, rocks and mountains. Look for the dark bird flying near the tree on the right, the palm on the left, the angels’ golden halos and the lettered ribbon hanging from the cross.
About Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo was born in Vinci, near Florence, and was a painter, inventor, engineer and scientist all at once. He filled thousands of notebook pages with flying machines, studies of the human body and mirror-written notes. He finished only a few paintings, but almost all of them changed the history of art.
More by Leonardo da Vinci
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