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The Baptism of Christ

ca. 1713–14
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 639
An artist of international reputation, Ricci left Italy for England in 1711 or 1712. This fine oil sketch is for the now-lost decoration of a wall in the duke of Portland’s chapel at Bulstrode House in Buckinghamshire. In 1733 George Vertue praised Ricci’s work in the chapel: “The whole a noble, free invention [with] great force of lights and shade, with variety and freedom in the composition of the parts.”

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Baptism of Christ
  • Artist: Sebastiano Ricci (Italian, Belluno 1659–1734 Venice)
  • Date: ca. 1713–14
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: 26 x 40 in. (66 x 101.6 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Rogers and Gwynne Andrews Funds, and Gift of Jane L. Melville, by exchange, 1981
  • Object Number: 1981.186
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

More Artwork

More Artwork
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Figure Studies, Sebastiano Ricci Italian, Pen and brown ink, brush and gray wash, over red and a little black chalk
Figure Studies
Sebastiano Ricci
1659–1734
Studies for an Education of the Virgin: Saint Anne Teaching the Virgin to Read, Sebastiano Ricci Italian, Pen and brown ink over black chalk
Studies for an Education of the Virgin: Saint Anne Teaching the Virgin to Read
Sebastiano Ricci
1659–1734
Allegory with Figures of Hope, Time, and Death, Sebastiano Ricci Italian, Pen and brown ink, brush and gray wash, over red and black chalk
Allegory with Figures of Hope, Time, and Death
Sebastiano Ricci
1659–1734
Seven Male Heads, Sebastiano Ricci Italian, Pen and brown ink, wash
Seven Male Heads
Sebastiano Ricci
late 17th–mid-18th century
The Holy Family with Angels, Sebastiano Ricci Italian, Oil on canvas
The Holy Family with Angels
Sebastiano Ricci
ca. 1700

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