(Verona 1528–1588 Venice)
The Baptism of Christ,
oil on canvas, arched top, 48 x 34.5 cm, framed

Provenance:
Private European Collection

Literature:
G. M. Pilo, Paolo Veronese e il tema del Battesimo di Gesù Cristo, in: M. Gemin (ed.), Nuovi studi su Paolo veronese, Venice 1990, pp. 402-405, ilustrated p. 402, no. 304;
T. Pignatti, F. Pedrocco, Veronese, Milan 1995, vol. I, pp. 239-240, mentioned under cat. no. 137, illustrated

The present small canvas is the preparatory sketch for the Baptism of Christ, which was kept in the sacristy of the church of the Redentore, Venice. The altarpiece was commissioned from Paolo Veronese by Bartolomeo Stravazino, who is depicted in the bottom right of the painting with his son Giovanni, and was located in the chapel dedicated to Saint John the Baptist near the Capuchin church on the Giudecca. The church had been consecrated in 1561 and was later demolished to make room for the new church of the Redentore, designed by Andrea Palladio.
This canvas represents the genesis of the first poetic idea for the altarpiece, and its importance is determined mainly by the fact that Veronese is not known to have made other similar “sketches” but just a few reference “models” for larger compositions.

The present painting shows how Veronese had initially thought about a partially different format and composition compared to the definitive version. In fact, in this oil sketch, it is possible to see more background on the right and a single cherub above the dove. The freshness and spontaneity of the canvas reveals the pictoral quality of Veronese, whose quick strokes depict the figures with great liveliness, as can be seen in the heads of the angels on the right, on the portraits of the patrons and from the complementary brown and purple illuminating Christ and his white loincloth.

The commission of the large altarpiece of the Baptism of Christ for the old church of the Redentore, just like its “first idea” hereby presented, represents a significant stage in Paolo Veronese’s artistic journey. It was painted by Caliari during a period of great activity, from the great decorative work in the church of San Sebastiano in Venice and the famous frescoes of Villa Barbaro in Maser. Veronese returned to the subject of the Baptism on several occasions and it enabled him to create harmonious compositions in which human figures and nature were balanced, and the example of the church of the Redentore is one of the first examples.