Raphael, Saint John the Baptist Preaching

Mark 1:1-8 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) of the Bible

The Proclamation of John the Baptist
1 The beginning of the good news[a] of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
2 As it is written in the prophet Isaiah,
“See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way;
3 the voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight,’”
4 John the baptizer appeared[e] in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
5 And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.
6 Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.
7 He proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals.
8 I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

Pieter Brueghel the Elder, Saint John the Baptist Preaching, 1566
Museum of Fine Arts Budapest, Hungary (Image by Yelkrokoyade)

Anton Raphael Meng, St John Preaching in the Wilderness, 1760
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

This pigment analysis is based on the work of the scientists at the National Gallery London (1). The results of the investigation have been published in references (1) and (2) and all the microscopic images of cross-sections, the infrared and x-ray images are included in the website of the Raphael Research Project of the National Gallery London (3).

1 Pale blue sky: natural ultramarine mixed with white and painted over an underlayer of azurite mixed with white.
2 The foliage of the small tree near the middle of the composition: underpaint of lead-tin yellow, yellow ochre, and a little verdigris. The upper layer consists mainly of verdigris.

3 Blue drapery of the woman on the far left: ultramarine painted over azurite.
4 Red cloak of the man on the left: red lake mixed with a little vermilion in the shadows and some white in the highlights.
5 Mauve coloured hose of the man in the red cloak: red lake, ultramarine, and lead white in two layers.

6 Green drapery of the sitting man: verdigris.

7 Landscape: underpaint of azurite, lead-tin yellow, yellow ochre and lead white. The upper layer contains verdigris and lead-tin yellow, and in some parts also yellow ochre.
8 Brownish areas of the mound on which Saint John stands: Same paint layers as the landscape with additional thin translucent yellow glazes.

9 Halo of Saint John: gold.

References

(1) Roy, A., Spring, M., Plazzotta, C. ‘Raphael’s Early Work in the National Gallery: Paintings before Rome‘. National Gallery Technical Bulletin Vol 25, pp 4–35. Available as pdf.

(2) Marika Spring, Raphael’s Materials: Some New Discoveries and their Context within Early Sixteenth-Century Painting, Eu-ARTECH Raphael Workshop, National Gallery London, 2004. Available as pdf.

(3) The Procession to Calvary, Raphael, Raphael Research Resource, National Gallery London.

(1) Roy, A., Spring, M., Plazzotta, C. ‘Raphael’s Early Work in the National Gallery: Paintings before Rome‘. National Gallery Technical Bulletin Vol 25, pp 4–35. Available as pdf.

(2) Marika Spring, Raphael’s Materials: Some New Discoveries and their Context within Early Sixteenth-Century Painting, Eu-ARTECH Raphael Workshop, National Gallery London, 2004. Available as pdf.

(3) Hugo Chapman, Tom Henry and Carol Plazzotta, Raphael – from Urbino to Rome, exhibition catalog, National Gallery London, 2004. Available as pdf.

 Studying Raphael, Raphael Research Resource, National Gallery London.