The baptism of Christ
Unknown Artist
14th century
Medium
Silk on linen
Dimensions
11 x 16 in. (27.9 x 40.6 cm)
Classification
Textiles-Embroidered
Culture
Italian
Department
The Cloisters
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1958
Accession Number
58.139
Tags
Art Historical Context
Nestled in The Cloisters collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art *The Baptism of Christ* a delicate 14th-century Italian panel, crafted from silk threads on linen. Measuring just 11 x 16 inches, this intimate textile captures a pivotal biblical moment: Christ standing in the Jordan River as Saint John the Baptist pours water over him, surrounded by attending angels and saints. The unknown artist's needlework brings the sacred scene to life with vibrant silks that would have gleamed in the soft light of a medieval chapel. In late medieval Italy, during the Gothic era, embroidered textiles...