#wilderness

Art the community tagged “wilderness” — see what people make of it.

Erisava Staff Jul 26

Saint John the Baptist in the Wilderness by Diego Velázquez, 1618

Content Warning

Nudity

Saint John the Baptist in the Wilderness

Art Institute of Chicago · wikidata.org

Public domain

For a long time this hung under 'unknown Sevillian painter' — only fairly recently did anyone decide it's an early Velázquez, from before he'd really found his style. The purple cloth is apparently a deliberate touch too, a color tied to preparation, since John's whole story is about getting the way ready for someone else.

#religious #wilderness #spanish #baroque