Saint John in the Desert

Domenico Veneziano

A young, nude, light-skinned man stands in the center of a rocky, mountainous landscape in this square painting. The man’s muscular body faces us but he turns his head in profile to our right as he looks down at the coral-red cloth he drops onto the ground. He is cleanshaven with prominent eyebrows, a straight nose, and his lips are slightly parted. He has thick, reddish-brown hair with bangs across his forehead, and there is a red-edged, glimmering, gold, plate-like halo across the crown of his head. He leans slightly to the side as he drops the red cloth onto a white one, already on the ground. With his other hand, he holds a fawn-brown animal skin or cloth over that shoulder. The man is surrounded by tan and parchment-brown, deeply ridged, mostly barren mountains. The pointed peaks nearly reach the top of the painting. The rocky mountains are interspersed with a few dark green bushes. A light blue stream curves in a shallow S shape along the right side of the painting. Peaks in the far distance are icy blue against a sky that deepens from topaz blue along the horizon to navy blue at the top edge. Some puffy and some thin white clouds float across the sky.

Artwork details

Artist: Domenico Veneziano
Date: c. 1445/1450
Medium: tempera on panel
Dimensions: overall: 28.4 x 31.8 cm (11 3/16 x 12 1/2 in.) framed: 40.6 x 44.1 x 5.1 cm (16 x 17 3/8 x 2 in.)
Collection: CIS-R

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landscape artwork · 4096 × 3598 pixels

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Artwork total

Rs. 1056

Artwork cost: Rs. 1000

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SIZE & CUSTOMIZATION

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Size / customization

Artwork size: 8" × 7"

Whole-inch standard sizes may trim a small amount from the edges. Artwork is never stretched.