# St John the Baptist [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [MEMMI, Lippo]() - Date: 1301-1350 - Technique: Tempera on panel, 89 x 42 cm ## Commentary St John the Baptist c. 1325 Tempera on panel, 89 x 42 cm National Gallery of Art, Washington The inscription fragment on the scroll is from John 1:29, which reads, "Here is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world." These are the words St John the Baptist spoke to Jesus, when Jesus encountered him baptizing beyond the Jordan River. Living in the wilderness, the saint was clothed in a camel skin, and his hair was matted — just as we see him here. This image, formerly attributed to Lippo Memmi's brother-in-law, Simone Martini, was probably created for the church of San Giovanni Battista in San Gimignano. It was part of an imposing altarpiece, of which five panels depicting saints \(Peter, Paul, John the Evangelist, Francis, and Louis of Toulouse\) have been identified in other museums. Originally, they would have been arranged on either side of a slightly larger central image, perhaps of the Madonna and Child. ## Related artworks - [Annunciation to the Virgin]() - [Betrayal of Judas \(detail\)]() - [Christ Blessing \(detail\)]() - [Crucifixion \(detail\)]() - [Crucifixion]() - [Madonna and Child]() - [Madonna of the Recommended]() - [Maestà]() - [Maestà]() - [Mocking of Christ]() - [Scenes from the Life of Christ \(first bay\)]() - [Scenes from the Life of Christ \(second bay\)]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()