Ben, I thought we'd start this episode, which focuses on the preaching of John with our
beautiful little Raphael predella panel, which he painted in about 1505.
And I'm always struck here by the fact that even though John is raised up on this natural
mound, almost like a pulpit, the attention seems to be more on the gathering of the figures
coming to listen to him.
Yes. Maybe we even see ourselves, or are encouraged to see ourselves in them, and its helping
us to think what it is to be a congregation to listen to preaching. When I look at this
I always think of the famous early English composer, Orlando Gibbons's setting of that
early part of John's story, where he's preaching, and all of Jerusalem and Judea come to hear
him. It's called This is the Record of John, and one of the things that he sets is the
line that John preaches to the people, 'Prepare the way of the Lord'. He's summoning them
to prepare themselves, and some seem more ready to be prepared than others.
That's actually a very serious message, and quite a stern one, and you can almost imagine
that reflected in that very composed but stern-looking saint. But there's something there,
and my eye is lead around the painting to think about the different kinds of attention that people
are giving to this very important message. This figure, leaning on his chin, seems to
be very focused and intent, whereas this more portly figure is slightly distracted, and
looking away.
Absolutely. He carries the world in his belly, and has other things to think about, like his dinner.
Exactly, but also the sweet inclusion of these little children, who seem to be pulling at
their father's leg.
Very sweet, and I'm fascinated by them, because, again, part of the content of the Baptist
preaching is this line that the Lord can raise up children of Abraham, even from the stones,
which is, perhaps, I wonder being illustrated here by the fact that they're sitting on a
rock, and they're in a state of innocence, aren't they, they're naked. And I have seen
other images of the Baptist preaching where you often see a small infant, so perhaps there's
a reference by Raphael, by the patron, a direct reference to this little detail in the Gospel.
Well, this painting seems to focus a little bit more on the congregation, and their response,
let's say, to John's message. We have another painting here in the National Gallery of the
same subject, by an artist called Mola, and there, it's quite interesting, the focus seems
to be on the message instead, and so there's a slight nuance change, so perhaps we ought
to look at that picture next.
This painting's by an artist called Pier Francesco Mola, and it dates to about 1640, and as you'll
see, it's the same subject as the Raphael little predella panel that we just looked at.
But I wanted to show it to you, because the focus seems to be quite different in this
canvas. If you remember what we talked about in the Raphael, we talked about the congregation
being the focus of the attention.
Yes, and they've shrunk here to just a few representative figures ...
Exactly.
... and John is center stage.
He is. He's highlighted, quite literally highlighted, and if you look very closely you can see that
his mouth is open, he's very actively preaching in this moment.
It's always struck me as one of the challenges of showing, in a visual image, the act of
preaching, which is an auditory experience, and what, as it were, visual tricks can you
use to suggest a moment of speech? The open mouth is obviously one, and the gesticulating
finger captures in a physical movement something of what preaching is all about.
Preaching is directing ... directing one's mind, isn't it?
And directing, specifically. Christian preaching is directing towards the figure of Christ
and again, a familiar passage from the Gospels comes to mind here, John says there is one
who comes after me, who is greater than I am, and who was before me, which is a peculiar
way of putting it.
It's quite convoluted, in the Gospel passage, but actually, you can imagine someone like
Mola picking that up, and saying. "How am I going to make that convoluted passage into
something very legible?" and in fact, it is here, and you'll see that the reed cross and
that pointing gesture of the Baptist, so clearly direct our gaze back to the figure of Jesus
It is like a massive arrow.
It is. Actually, that gesture itself becomes an attribute of the Baptist, if you start
looking at images of the Baptist, it's always that pointing gesture that's part of the message.
That's very true. Along with the other things we've already spotted, his camel skin, his
reed cross, his banderole, the hand itself, and the pointing hand.
It stands in for the whole message.
And actually the National Gallery has a beautiful altarpiece by Parmigianino which might have
the most dramatic example of that pointing finger. I think we should look at that painting
next.
It's nearby, isn't it?
Ben, this is the Parmigianino altarpiece that I was telling you about, with its extraordinary
figure of John the Baptist in the foreground.
And that preternaturally long finger.
It might be better to look at the altarpiece from here, because it really suits a bit of
distance, given its scale.
And the finger reminds me, again, that preaching is a sort of pointing, but a non-literal pointing.
That makes sense for this painting, for this altarpiece, because it's actually a non-narrative
altarpiece, as well, a non-literal.
Not a literal scene.
Yes, because you would never get this combination of characters altogether. John appears almost
preaching, but also in the wilderness, together with another penitential saint who we often
see in the wildernesses, a sleeping Saint Jerome, in this case, and of course the Virgin
and Child, the child to whom he points so emphatically.
And it's not just that emphatic pointing gesture that strikes you. The face of John the Baptist
in this is so engaging, almost that piercing gaze, and that gaze combined with this very
complicated, twisting pose ... isn't that extraordinary?
His legs face us, but his body then turns all the way round and backwards, and it reminds
me that one of the images used by early Christian commentators of the Baptist was that he is
a fibula, which is the Latin word for a brooch, and I think it is because a brooch is hinged
in a certain way, and as we've noted before the Baptist is like a hinge between the old
and the new order of things, the last prophet, the first saint, and here his body expresses
that sense of being a hinge. It pivots and directs us further up, and further into the painting.
And the gaze initially arrests us, but says, "Don't stop with me. Start with
me, but don't stop with me, go further", and it's like he becomes a conduit for our own gaze.
That is the message of the preaching. He is preaching, and directing our view up towards
this extraordinary Christ Child, who actually, particularly from this distance, you see he's
stepping out towards us, that hovering foot. So as the Baptist moves back, the Christ Child
moves forward. He's making way, as it were.
I'm struck by the leopard skin that he has, instead of his familiar camel.
Yes, it's sort of draped over his thigh.
It reminds me of the Roman god Bacchus, who's often depicted with a leopard skin, and there
is something a bit Bacchic, isn't there, about John?
Yes, actually in a few iconographic traditions, he seems to appropriate, or acquire Bacchus's
attributes, and sometimes even wears a crown of vines in his hair, and there's something
about associating those two kinds of wildernesses, the wildness of Bacchus.
Yeah, outside the walls of the city and both disrupt convention and destabilise things a bit.
Precisely, so he's absorbed and taken on some of those characteristics of the Roman god.
Isn't that extraordinary the way there's also, if you make out just in the left hand side,
in all of these amazing skins that he's wearing, can you see there's a cup attached to his
belt?
Yes, on his hip.
Yes.
And that tells us what all of this preparing the way is ultimately for, he is preparing
the way of the Lord but for a very specific purpose, which is the Baptism.
The baptism, exactly. And actually that will be the subject of our next episode.