The Baptism of Christ

Domenico Tintoretto

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Domenico Tintoretto

Venice (Italy), 1560 - Venice, 1635

The Baptism of Christ

Ca. 1585. Oil on canvas.
Not on display

Dressed in camel skins, Saint John the Baptist baptizes Christ in the River Jordan. According to the New Testament, the Holy Ghost descended at that very moment in the form of a dove —depicted in the upper part of the composition— and a voice was heard from on high, saying: “This is my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3, 13-17; Mark 1, 9-11; Luke 3, 21-22). Previously attributed to Jacopo Tintoretto, this work is rather by his son Domenico. This painting is considered the one listed in 1630 among the belongings of Leonardo Ottoboni, the Grand Chancellor of the Republic of Venice. Its first documentary appearance in Spain is in the 1818 inventory of the Palace of Aranjuez.

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The Female Perspective: "Judith and Holofernes" by Domenico Tintoretto

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Inventory number: P000397
Author: Domenico Tintoretto
Title: The Baptism of Christ
Date: Ca. 1585
Technique: Oil
Support: Canvas
Dimension: Width: 105 cm; Height: 137 cm
Provenance: Royal Collection (Leonardo Ottoboni, Venecia, 1630; Royal Palace of Aranjuez, Madrid, “despacho y dormitorio del rey”, 1818, n. 398)

Bibliography +

Berenson, Bernard1865-1959, The Venetian painters of the Renaissance: with an index to their works, G. P. Putnam's Sons, Nueva York.Londres, 1894.

Armstrong, Walter, The life of Velazquez, Seeley and Co., Londres, 1896, pp. 14.

Dyke, John C.Van, Madrid. Critical Notes on the Prado, Charles Scribners'Sons, Nueva York, 1914.

Osmaston, F.P.B., The art and genius of Tintoret, G.Bell and Sons Ltd., Londres, 1915, pp. 213.

Pittaluga, Mary, Il Tintoretto, Nicola Zanichelli, Bolonia, 1924, pp. 257.

Noul, M., Sotomayor, F., Muguruza, P., Les chefs-d'oeuvre du Musée du Prado, Musée d'Art et d'Histoire, Ginebra, 1939, pp. 36.

Santa Teresa y su tiempo, Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia, Madrid, 1970, pp. 118.

Schiller, Gertrud, Iconography of Christian Art, Lund Humphries, Londres, 1971, pp. 386.

Sánchez Cantón, Francisco Javier, Museo del Prado. Catálogo de las pinturas, Museo del Prado, Madrid, 1972.

Bernari, Carlo, La obra pictórica completa de Tintoretto, Clásicos del Arte 36, Barcelona, 1974.

Museo Nacional del Prado, Museo del Prado: pintura italiana anterior a 1600, Gredos, Madrid, 1979, pp. 216,217.

Museo Nacional del Prado, Catálogo de las pinturas, Museo del Prado, Madrid, 1985, pp. 691.

Barghahn, Barbara Von, Philip IV and the Golden House of the Buen Retiro in the Tradition of Caesar, Garland PublishingInc, Nueva York. Londres, 1986, pp. 393/ lám.1338.

Museo Nacional del Prado, Museo del Prado. Inventario general de pinturas (I) La Colección Real, Museo del Prado, Espasa Calpe, Madrid, 1990, pp. nº808.

Pallucchini, Rodolfo, Tintoretto: le opere sacre e profane, Electa, 1990, pp. 247 il.684.

Museo Nacional del Prado, Pintura italiana del Renacimiento: guía, Museo del Prado, Aldeasa, Madrid, 1999, pp. 268.

Antonin, Daniela, Faszination des Fremden : China-Japan-Europa, Hetjens-Museum, 2009, pp. 86-87.

Other inventories +

Inv. Fernando VII, Aranjuez, 1814-1818. Núm. 398.
Despacho y Dormitorio del Rey [...] {20749} 398 / Siete quartas alto quatro ancho, el Bautismo de Cristo por San Juan

Catálogo Museo del Prado, 1854-1858. Núm. 808.

Inv. Real Museo, 1857. Núm. 808.
Pablo Verones. / 808. El Bautismo del Señor. / Alto 4 pies, 11 pulg; ancho 3 pies, 9 pulg.

Catálogo Museo del Prado, 1872-1907. Núm. 413.

Catálogo Museo del Prado, 1910. Núm. 397.

Catálogo Museo del Prado, 1942-1996. Núm. 397.

Inscriptions +

397 / TINTORETTO / El bautismo de Cristo.
Printed label. Stretcher, upper bar, on the left

398.
Inscribed in white. Front, lower left corner

n^o 397 / Procede de la / caja n^o 2 / 9-VII-1937
Inscribed in black. Stretcher, lower bar, on the left

808
Inscribed in red color. Front, lower left corner

P.^e N.^ro S.^or[Príncipe Nuestro Señor]
Inscribed in black. Back, central area

DIRECCION GENERAL DE BELLAS ARTES / DEL MINISTERIO DE EDUCACION Y CIENCIA [...] / MUSEO ESPAÑOL DE ARTE CONTEMPORANEO [...] / EXPOSICION SANTA TERESA / PROPIETARIO Museo del Prado - Madrid / TITULO DE LA OBRA "El Bautismo de Cristo"
Inscribed in black. Stretcher, lower bar, on the left

Nº 398
Inscribed in black. Frame, back, upper bar

Nº 397
Inscribed in blue. Stretcher, upper bar, at center

Update date: 17-02-2026 | Registry created on 28-04-2015