St. John the Baptist is a prominent character in the four Gospels, and therefore, one of the most important in Catholic religion. According to the Gospel of Luke, the predecessor of Christ was the only son of the priest Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth, cousin of the Virgin Mary. This Evangelist says that St. John the Baptist "lived in the deserts until the day that he became known to the Israelites". [1] The Gospel of St. Luke recounts, moreover, that as an adult man "John went through all of the places along the Jordan River, telling people that they should turn to God and be baptized, so that God would forgive their sins".[2]
In the sculptural representation in question, the cousin of Christ is seen sitting on what appears to be the remains of the trunk of a large tree or, more likely, a rocky environment. Unlike multiple representations of St. John the Baptist, he is shown in this sculpture as a young man, beardless and with curly hair. This is not an unusual image of the prophet, as they are frequent, those in which one observes St. John the Baptist as a very young man, and even as a child. Surely this sculpture owes much to the works of Florentine artists of the Quattrocento, representing "St. John as an adolescent with the features of a beardless ephebe of nervous elegance (Donatello, Verrocchio) or of androgynous grace (Da Vinci)”.[3]
In the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Mark, it is stated that John the Baptist was dressed the same way as the prophet Elijah: "John's clothes were made of camel's hair and fastened to his body with a leather belt; his food was locusts and wild honey".[4] In addition, it was very common also to represent him wearing a red cloak, the color obviously reminding us that this is a holy martyr.[5] In the case of the sculptural work at hand, he only wears the mantle. Unfortunately, the polychrome of this sculpture is too altered, this action being very evident right in the mantle. It has golden flowers with contours, painted red. In addition, it displays small blue flowers with thin stems. The reverse, however, shows a red lacquer. The edge of the mantle, on both sides, shows a golden edging. It is possible that this part originally exhibited punch work with which were formed flowers, a very common procedure in New Spain in the gilded sculptures.
St. John the Baptist holds a scallop in his left hand, while the opposite hand is on the back of a lamb, animal which in this case represents Christ. This is because on one occasion, when the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him, cried. "Look, this is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world!"[6] Apparently, the Agnus Dei is part of the sculpture that best preserves the original gilding. Notably, the lamb was depicted in a very particular way: he has put his front paws on the right leg of St. John the Baptist and is nearing his muzzle to the saint's face. Perhaps he wanted to express in this way the close relationship that ed the prophet with Jesus Christ. Regardless, I believe that this is a rather peculiar representation of St. John the Baptist, as so far I have not heard of a similar one, whether pictorial or sculptural. Instead, as will be seen below, it seems that this sculpture and some paintings by the Marian devotion of the Divine Shepherdess have a common source.
So far, I know of three canvases of the Divine Shepherdess that can be related to the sculpture of St. John the Baptist. I am referring to the Divine Shepherdess preserved in the sacristy of the Church of the Hospital of Jesus in Mexico City, signed by the painter Jose de Paez in 1753;[7] the central painting of an altarpiece preserved in the transept of the Franciscan church of Ozumba, in the State of Mexico, signed by Paez, and a painting that is in the sacristy of the Dominican church of Amecameca, in the same state.[8] In the three the Virgin Mary is seen sitting in the field, with a group of sheep around, which represent the souls of the faithful. Every sheep has a rose in its mouth with one of the letters of the name "Mary". Christ's mother lovingly caresses one of the sheep that has approached her with the right hand. It is very common in representations of this Marian devotion that Christ's mother appears with one of her hands on one of the lambs.[9] However, only in the three paintings mentioned can this sheep be seen standing with the forelegs resting on the right leg of the Virgin. Perhaps the same source was used, probably an engraving of an image of the Divine Shepherdess, to paint all three canvases. It is also feasible that the same source has been used by the author of the sculpture of St. John the Baptist for the creation of Agnus Dei. Only then can there be explained the similarity of the sculpture of the prophet with the three paintings mentioned. The curious thing is that the artist used an image of the Virgin Mary for executing an image of St. John the Baptist, because while in the Divine Shepherdess, the lambs personify the souls of the faithful, in St. John the Baptist, a lamb is a representation of Jesus Christ.
The Divine Shepherdess is an invocation that emerged in Spain in the early eighteenth century. This devotion was promoted by the Capuchin Isidore of Seville, who wrote several treatises, one of which described the iconography of this Marian devotion: "The idea is this. To paint a countryside populated with trees, and with flowers; and in the middle of it, sitting on a rock, the Sacred Holy Image, dressed in a long tunic [...] Around that miraculous simulacrum, there are many little lambs, each with a rose in its mouth, and her majesty takes them with her left hand; symbol of the Hail Marys, that are sung to her in this most devout circle, which are the mystical roses offered her and which her loving Majesty receives."[10] The small dimensions of the sculpture of St. John the Baptist allow us to ensure that it was intended for domestic worship. Finally, we note that the halo of silver is a nineteenth century work.[11]
[1] St. Luke, 1, 80.
[2] St. Luke, 3, 3.
[3] Reau, 1999: 496.
[4] St. Mathew, 3, 4, and St. Mark, 1, 6.
[5] Schenone, 1992, II: 501.
[6] St. John, 1, 29.
[7] Baez Macias, 1982: 88. The author also notes that in the painting collection of the Augustinian convent of Acolman, a Divine Shepherdess is conserved that is identical to that of the sacristy of the church of the Hospital of Jesus, also signed by Jose de Paez on the same date. I am unaware whether this painting continues to be kept there.
[8] The painting is very high, so that no signature can be seen. However, I consider it very likely that this work has also been produced by the brush of Jose Paez. It should be noted that the painting of the sacristy of the convent church of Amecameca has virtually the same dimensions as that of Ozumba.
[9] Regarding this Marian devotion and its iconographic features, see Schenone, 2008: 376-378.
[10] Cited by Cuadriello, 1999: 69.
[11] I thank Dr. Patricia Diaz Cayeros for this observation.
Sources:
Baez Macias, Eduardo, El edificio del Hospital de Jesus. Historia y documentos sobre su construccion, Mexico, UNAM, 1982. Cuadriello, Jaime, Catalogo comentado del acervo del Museo Nacional de Arte. Nueva España, Mexico, Munal-UNAM, tomo I, 1999.
Reau, Louis, Iconografia del arte cristiano. Iconografia de la Biblia. Old Testament, trad. by Daniel Alcoba, Barcelona, Serbal, 1999.
Schenone, Hector H., Iconografia del arte colonial (Iconography of Colonial Art). Los santos (The Saints), 2 vols., Buenos Aires, Fundacion Tarea, 1992. _____, Iconografia del arte colonial (Iconography of Colonial Art). Santa Maria, Buenos Aires, Universidad Catolica de Argentina, 2008.
