The Bible In Paintings: THE BIRTH OF JOHN THE BAPTIST

[Hebrews 11:6]

The Bible In Paintings 2
ENCOURAGEMENT FOR APPRECIATING AND APPLYING GOD'S WORD

THE BIRTH OF
JOHN THE BAPTIST

L U K E
CHAPTER 1

When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy.

1
TINTORETTO
"The Birth of John the Baptist"

2
TINTORETTO
"Birth of St John the Baptist"

3
HUBERT or JAN VAN EYCK
"Birth of Saint John the Baptist"

4
DETAIL
Source

5
JEAN FOUQUET
"The Birth of St John the Baptist"

6
ARTEMISIA GENTILESCHI
"Birth of St John the Baptist"

7
PIETRO LIBERI
"The Birth of St John the Baptist"

8
LUCA SIGNORELLI
"The Birth of St John the Baptist"

9
DOMENICO GHIRLANDAIO
"The Birth of St. John the Baptist"

10
JUAN DE FLANDES
"The Birth and Naming of John the Baptist"

11
ANDREA PISANO
"Birth of the Baptist"

12
LUCAS CRANACH the Elder
"The Birth of John the Baptist"

13
SANO DI PIETRO
"Saint John the Baptist"

14
MASSIMO STANZIONE
"The Birth of John the Baptist"

15
PAUL GAUGUIN
"The Birth and Naming of Saint John the Baptist"

16
JERONIMO VICENTE VALLEJO COSIDA
"Birth of Saint John Baptist"

17
ANDREA SACCHI
"The Birth of Saint John the Baptist"

18
GIOVANNI DI TURINO
"Birth of the Baptist"

19
LUDOVICO CARRACCI
"The Birth of John the Baptist"

20
"Birth of John the Baptist"

21
"Birth of John the Baptist"

22
Source

23
Source

24
BARTOLOMÉ ESTEBAN MURILLO
"The Birth of John the Baptist"

25
ROGIER VAN DER WEYDEN
"John the Baptist"

26
Source

27
ANDREA SACCHI
"Birth of John the Baptist"

28
LUCA GIORDANO
"Birth of St John the Baptist"

On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, but his mother spoke up and said, “No! He is to be called John.”

They said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who has that name.”

Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child. He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s astonishment he wrote, “His name is John.” Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue was loosed, and he began to speak, praising God. The neighbors were all filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things. Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, “What then is this child going to be?” For the Lord’s hand was with him.

29
PONTORMO
"The Birth of John the Baptist"

30
GIULIANO BUGIARDINI
"The Birth of St John the Baptist"

31
Neapolitan School
"The Birth of Saint John the Baptist"

32
GIOVANNI BARONZIO
"The Birth, Naming, and Circumcision
of Saint John the Baptist"

33
"Circumcision of John the Baptist"

34
"Circumcision of John the Baptist"

35
"Birth of John the Baptist"

36
FRA ANGELICO
"Imposition of the Name on the Baptist"

37
FRANCESCO SOLIMENA
"The Naming of St John the Baptist"

38
DOMENICO GHIRLANDAIO
"Zacharias Writes John's Name"

His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:

“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,
    because he has come and has redeemed his people.
He has raised up a horn of salvation for us
    in the house of his servant David
(as he said through his holy prophets of long ago),
salvation from our enemies
    and from the hand of all who hate us—
to show mercy to our fathers
    and to remember his holy covenant,
    the oath he swore to our father Abraham:
to rescue us from the hand of our enemies,
    and to enable us to serve him without fear
    in holiness and righteousness before him all our
    days.

And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High;
    for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the
    way for him,
to give his people the knowledge of salvation
    through the forgiveness of their sins,
because of the tender mercy of our God,
    by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven
to shine on those living in darkness
    and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the path of peace.”

→ a n d... f i n a l l y ←

And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the desert until he appeared publicly to Israel.

39
JAMES TISSOT
"The Childhood of Saint John the Baptist"

New International Version ©1984, EMPHASES Added
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[Hebrews 11:6]

Your alertness is laudable, and your caution is commendable.

You've jumped the gun, though--I will not mention a word on the 4th. And my 600+ BibleArt threads have adhered to an ecumenical tone throughout.

There are other ways of making a point.

[Hebrews 11:6]

Thank you, Alba. You reveal a wealth of behind-the-scenes data to enhance our understanding and appreciation. We are in your debt.

[etabeta]

In Renaissance paintings, dogs often appear as status symbols combined with a suggestion of fidelity or loyalty.
Bird images during the Renaissance represented sacrifice, resurrection, the soul and death. We can’t be sure if the intention of the painter was to create a more familial scene with the addition of animals, or if symbolic. In some paintings, the symbolism is very clear.

[Hebrews 11:6]

That’s very helpful.

[Hebrews 11:6]

Further: My “Grrrr” comment was inappropriate, as you observed, made carnally rather than under the control of the Holy Spirit. I failed in my responsibility as the original poster.

The Spirit spoke through you to confront and convict me. Since then, I have held the appropriate conversation with Him.

Still, He has challenged me to make the point I intend to make on the 4th (actually, on the 5th), in just the way I intend.

[SouthernClaire]

You might be interested to know that the word for dog in Hebrew is “keleb” or “caleb” which means, whole heart, faithful, devoted, brave.

God bless you.

[SouthernClaire]

These are fantastic! Thank you, Dan.

[etabeta]

Thank you! God also bless you.

[Hebrews 11:6]

Yes! Always love me some good ol’ circumcision paintings....

[SouthernClaire]

They’re a lot easier for the female. :-)

[Hebrews 11:6]

I’m tough. In my baby book, in the Circumcision section, my mom wrote, “He didn’t cry.”

[SouthernClaire]

Yeah. My Mom wrote that my youngest brother actually slapped the doctor, and my eldest cursed his doctor like a dog.

[NorthMountain]

They are unsurpassed in Scripture, in my view

There are a few passages in Scripture that, IMO, should be committed to memory. These are two of them. John 1:1-18 (has it been illustrated?) is another.

My commitment of them to memory is imperfect. Mea culpa.

[NorthMountain]

In medieval and renaissance paintings, I think the default interpretation should be that the artist intended symbolic meaning regarding various animals. In modern paintings, not so much.

[Hebrews 11:6]

John 1:1-18 (has it been illustrated?)

If it has been, I've not found it. (Nor, for that matter, has Romans 1:18-32, which is in a different class than these but which grows more resounding daily.)

There are many, many important passages with little or no related art, which I must pass by. I have had to learn that my commission is not to lament what is not illustrated but to present that which is.

[NorthMountain]

not to lament what is not illustrated

Amen. And frankly, I'm not at all sure how one might illustrate that part of John 1 ...

[Hebrews 11:6]

how one might illustrate that part of John 1

I could do it, as I did several other unillustrated passages, using photographs. I backed off, because neither the Spirit nor the viewers were enthusiastic.

[M Kehoe]

Six months.

Although I wasn’t there.

I did stay at a Holiday Inn one time.

5.56mm

[InkStone]

Your teaching herein is SO HELPFUL. You add so much to the discussion. In fact, your input has caused me me look much more carefully at the details of each work. Thank you.

[InkStone]

Dan, I can’t take credit for ‘John the Immerser’ : I believe that was from Pastor Tom Bradford’s ‘Torah Class’ online. An inspired resource by the way =:^)