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The Birth and Naming of John the Baptist
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
Typical of Flemish art of the period, this scene suggests a comfortable home of the late 1400s in the Netherlands to frame the story of a biblical birth. Elizabeth, mother of Saint John the Baptist, rests after her labor, while her cousin, the Virgin Mary, presents the newborn to his father, Zacharias. Having lost his ability to speak when he doubted an angel’s prophecy of the child’s birth, Zacharias writes down his son’s name. At this moment, his speech is restored. This painting was once part of an altarpiece commissioned by Queen Isabella I of Castile, known as the Catholic (1451–1504), for a monastery near Burgos.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineThe Birth and Naming of John the Baptist, 1496–99. Juan de Flandes (Netherlandish, c. 1460–1519). Oil on wood; framed: 99 x 60 x 7.5 cm (39 x 23 5/8 x 2 15/16 in.); unframed: 88.4 x 49.9 cm (34 13/16 x 19 5/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund, 1975.3
