Main content
Europe 1300 - 1800
Course: Europe 1300 - 1800 > Unit 3
Lesson 3: Painting in central Italy- Gentile da Fabriano, Adoration of the Magi
- Gentile da Fabriano, Adoration of the Magi
- Gentile da Fabriano, Adoration of the Magi (reframed)
- Masaccio, Virgin and Child Enthroned
- Masaccio, The Holy Trinity
- Masaccio, Holy Trinity
- Masaccio, Holy Trinity (quiz)
- Masaccio, The Tribute Money in the Brancacci Chapel
- Masaccio, The Tribute Money in the Brancacci Chapel
- Masaccio, Tribute Money (quiz)
- Masaccio, Expulsion of Adam and Eve from Eden
- Fra Angelico, The Annunciation (Prado)
- Fra Angelico, The Annunciation
- Fra Angelico's Annunciation (quiz)
- Uccello, The Battle of San Romano
- Fra Filippo Lippi, Madonna and Child with two Angels
- Lippi, Madonna and Child with Two Angels
- Lippi, Madonna and Child with two Angels (quiz)
- Fra Filippo Lippi, Madonna and Child
- Lippi, Portrait of a Man and Woman at a Casement
- Fra Filippo Lippi, The Adoration
- Benozzo Gozzoli, The Medici Palace Chapel frescoes
- Beyond the Madonna, an early image of enslaved people in Renaissance Florence
- Veneziano, St. Lucy Altarpiece
- Antonio Pollaiuolo, Battle of Ten Nudes
- Perugino, Christ Giving the Keys of the Kingdom to St. Peter
- Ghirlandaio, Birth of the Virgin
- Cassone with the Conquest of Trebizond
- Botticelli, Primavera
- A celebration of beauty and love: Botticelli's Birth of Venus
- Botticelli, Birth of Venus (quiz)
- Botticelli, Portrait of a Man with a Medal of Cosimo il Vecchio de’ Medici
- Portraits and fashion: Sandro Botticelli, Portrait of a Young Woman
- Napoleon's booty — Perugino's (gorgeous) Decemviri Altarpiece
- The Early Renaissance in Florence (including painting, sculpture and architecture) (quiz)
- Piero della Francesca, The Baptism of Christ
- Piero della Francesca, Baptism of Christ (quiz)
- Piero della Francesca’s Flagellation of Christ
- A Renaissance masterpiece nearly lost in war: Piero della Francesca, The Resurrection
- Piero della Francesca, Resurrection
- Piero della Francesca, Portraits of the Duke and Duchess of Urbino
- Piero della Francesca, Portraits of the Duke and Duchess of Urbino (quiz)
- Signorelli, The Damned Cast into Hell
- Martini, Architectural Veduta
© 2023 Khan AcademyTerms of usePrivacy PolicyCookie Notice
Piero della Francesca, The Baptism of Christ
Piero della Francesca, The Baptism of Christ, 1450s, tempera on wood, 167 x 116 cm (National Gallery, London). Speakers: Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker. Created by Beth Harris and Steven Zucker.
Want to join the conversation?
- Why are these guys no longer painted with halos?(9 votes)
- In the renaissance- the divinity of the characters came from the beauty of the human body and the familiarity of the story. The Halos was more of a Byzantine tradition that began to fade out of popularity at the beginning of the Renaissance.(21 votes)
- Why is this not accurate to the Bible? John didn't pour water onto Christ's head. They walked down into the River Jordan and performed the baptism in the river. (See Matthew) 3:16(3 votes)
- Matthew 3 says that Jesus found John at the Jordan River, NOT that he was baptized in it. Yes, it says he "got out of the water", but that water could have in a side pool. And it doesn't say that he was dunked, only that he was baptized, so it still could have work either way.
In the Catholic tradition, the only requirement I remember for water for baptism was that it be moving. That's why you can do either plunge or pour.(5 votes)
- Why are the angels painted to look shocked or surprised? I would assume they would understand the baptism process. Or is it some interpretative concept?(2 votes)
- Jesus' choice to be baptized by John was a surprising gesture since, as John said, "It is I who should be baptized by you." This scene is testament to Jesus' human side and humble nature - the endorsement of which is seen in the heavens opening up, a dove (the Holy Spirit) appearing and the voice from above stating "This is my son, in whom I am very proud." The angels are surprised because the son of god had no need of baptism -(6 votes)
- Does anyone know when or what painting/sculpture Jesus gain his recognizable face and caucasian features with long hairs and beard because it is not known sure what Jesus actually looked like? Is original picture that started this "meme" known or does we know what era this is based?(1 vote)
- There is no point in time or single painting that one can point to as having started such a trend. I think it would be more likely that this is a result of reading in the bible that God created man in his own image and the fact that very few people of that time traveled any farther than 5 to 10 miles from their place of birth. They would have no knowledge of how actual middle eastern peoples would look.(7 votes)
- am i the only one who got a head ache at2:44(3 votes)
- I didn't get a headache, but I think I understand why you may have. The illustration from the book on geometry was germaine to the topic, but a bit esoteric. For my part, I was glad when attention returned to the painting.(3 votes)
- The angels seem to be more human, and seem to also be more feminine. Is this just me?
They also wear wreaths instead of halos, I'm kinda lost there.(2 votes) - Is there any tutorial relating to Islam and Pakistan history ??(2 votes)
- Yes! We have an entire section devoted to the Arts of the Islamic World: https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-islam(4 votes)
- Piero della Francesca's paintings are all full of symbols and hidden meanings. Pity, it's missing here.(2 votes)
- at 0.16 mr steven mentioned that the modern era has loved the works Pierre della Francesca? can someone please explain what does he means by loved ? which artists were inspired by the works of pierre or praised his works?(1 vote)
- From the author:Off the top of my head: Bathus, Picasso, Degas, Cézanne, etc. and at least one art historian argues for Grant Wood as well.(3 votes)
- Was Piero Della Francesca during when Michelangelo was alive or Bernini?(2 votes)
- No, Piero lived from 1415 to 1492 in the Tuscan town and spent most of his life in Borgo San Selpulchro. Michelangelo lived from 1475 to 1564; he grew up in and around Florence, later working in Rome. Bernini from 1598 to 1680; he was born in Naples and spent most of his life in Rome.(1 vote)
Video transcript
(piano music) Woman: Looking at a very
large panel painting by Piero della Francesca
of the baptism of Christ. This is a typical subject
that we see a lot. Man: But not a typical treatment. Piero was one of those Renaissance artists that I think the modern era has loved. In part because of the
emphasis on geometry and a kind of abstraction
of space and form. Woman: He really stands
out as having a really unique style in the early Renaissance. It's defined by a kind of
stillness of the figures, a kind of quietness. Man: It has all of the
characteristics of an ideal moment. This is the moment literally the moment when John allows the water
to pour from that bowl onto Christ's head and
would be that moment when the Holy Spirit in the
form of the dove appears. Woman: John is so ever
so gently and tentatively pouring that water over Christ, who of course Christ
asked John to baptize him and John at first refused
and Christ insisted because John said, "No
you should baptize me." Man: The angels on the
left look equally concerned and there is a kind of tentativeness. Look at the focus in John's eyes. Woman: The sort of
tentativeness is expressed in his left hand. Man: Yes, oh absolutely, and you can see
that in the hands of the angels as well. Woman: There is a kind
of stillness and sense of linearity to the figures. Christ occupies the exact
center of the composition directly under the dove. He stands in a lovely contropposto
with his hands in prayer. Man: There is a really strict geometry. You have the verticality
that you already mentioned. But not only was there bilateral symmetry of Christ's body in the
center of the canvas but of John being quite
strayed of the angels very erect, the tree, all the trees. Then there is a series
of perfect horizontals. Look at the way that John's
belt continues the movement of the man who is taking
off his shirt to the right, moves across Christ's waist and picks
up the belt of the middle angel. So you have a kind of perfect horizontal that moves across that is echoed by the horinzontality of the dove, whose line is continued by the clouds, and then there are a series of circles. The painting itself is an arch
but that arch of that circle is picked up and continued by
the arc of the top of the cloth that covers Christ's
waist and then by John's hand and arm and even by the sort of line that is created as the man
pulls his shirt over his head so that you've got really
this sort of continued negative arc or the bottom
of the arc of the circle. Woman: This love of geometry. We know that perspective
was something that Piero also was really interested
in and wrote a treatus about. This interest in the mathematical
foundations of beauty and harmony is something
that we really see very broadly in the early renaissance. Man: I think that there is an
additional kind of peculiarity, which has to do with the placement. Clearly this is not the middle east. The hill town that we see
just below Christ's elbow is clearly of Tuscany. Woman: Maybe even where Piero was from, which was Borgo Santo Sepolcro. Man: That's right but we have a reference to the river Jordan in back of Christ, which is in and of
itself a sort of peculiar almost minimized and
abstracted into a little stream that almost seems to stop, as if
it's a little pathway actually, going back a kind of reflective pathway. Woman: There is a kind
of intentionality here and a kind of formality that
I think is very appealing in the 21st century. (piano music).