PROVENANCE: Riccardi or Ricciardi family, Florence; Marquis Stiozzi Ridolfi, Florence, before 1836; Richard Henry Wilde, 1836; A. Arnold, New York, 1847; Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Simpson (through Julius Weitzner); BJU M&G, 1955.

In addition to being an artist, Salvator Rosa was also an actor, a singer, a philosopher, and a poet/satirist. His work borrows from the landscapes of northern artists, from the ideas of his social circle, known as the Accademia dei Percossi, and from his experiences in the arts. Later in life, Rosa turned from creating landscapes to painting large figurative subjects drawn from the Bible and antiquity.

In this painting, the expanse of the landscape highlights the real theme of the subject: humility. In the biblical account, Christ requests baptism and John replies, “I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?” Jesus answers, “Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:14-15). In this context, the dramatic backdrop of the very creation that Christ spoke into existence through His power contrasts with His humility in submitting to the baptism of an ordinary man.