# St John the Baptist Preaching [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [REMBRANDT Harmenszoon van Rijn]() - Date: 1601-1650 - Technique: Oil on canvas laid down on panel, 62 x 80 cm ## Commentary St John the Baptist Preaching c. 1634 Oil on canvas laid down on panel, 62 x 80 cm Staatliche Museen, Berlin <a href="\#" onClick="w=window.open \('/database/glossary/note03.html', 'newWin', 'scrollbars=yes,status=no,dependent=yes,screenX=0,screenY=0,width=300,height=400'\);w.opener=this;w.focus\(\);return false">Catalogue number:</a> Bredius 555. In the 1630s, landscapes were to remain in the background of Rembrandt's biblical paintings. The landscape backgrounds in these paintings - views through on the left, punctuated by impressive buildings - succeed in varying measure in avoiding the feel of a backdrop rather than real space. In the present painting the Precursor of Christ, having spent his entire life to date in the wilderness, enters the world to address the multitude. The countryside and its properties are part of John's message and part of Rembrandt's scene - the Jordan valley is ready to be filled, the distant hilltop to be lowered. There are preparatory drawings connected with this painting. ## Related artworks - [A black drummer and commander mounted on mules; riding in profile]() - [A child being taught to walk]() - [A cottage beneath trees]() - [A girl sleeping]() - [A Man Laughing]() - [A man making water]() - [A Peddler Selling Spectacles \(The Allegory of Sight\)]() - [A Polish Nobleman]() - [A Scholar]() - [A two-humped camel]() - [A woman in Zeeland costume, from the back]() - [A woman in Zeeland costume, from the front]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()