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The Baptism of Christ

ca. 1590
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 608
This extraordinary altarpiece—deeply expressive and almost unique in showing the baptism of Christ as a noc-turne—is the last known work by Bassano. The great Venetian painter left it unfinished at his death in 1592, and his heirs retained it for more than a century. To some eyes, the painting’s unfinished (non finito) style seems a crucial step toward modernism, to be compared with, for example, Goya’s “black paintings.” Bassano interprets the baptism of Christ not as a sunny event in a pastoral landscape, but as the tragic opening of his Passion.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Baptism of Christ
  • Artist: Jacopo Bassano (Jacopo da Ponte) (Italian, Bassano del Grappa ca. 1510–1592 Bassano del Grappa)
  • Date: ca. 1590
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: 75 1/2 x 63 1/8 in. (191.8 x 160.3 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Gift of Mark Fisch and Rachel Davidson, 2012
  • Object Number: 2012.99
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

More Artwork

More Artwork
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Head of a Pope(?) (recto); Two Studies of Left Hand (verso), Jacopo Bassano (Jacopo da Ponte) Italian, Black and colored chalks on blue paper (recto); black chalk (verso)
Head of a Pope(?) (recto); Two Studies of Left Hand (verso)
Jacopo Bassano (Jacopo da Ponte)
1550–1600
Bust-Length Study of a Bearded Man with Cap in Three-Quarter View, Jacopo Bassano (Jacopo da Ponte) Italian, Pastel and charcoal on blue paper
Bust-Length Study of a Bearded Man with Cap in Three-Quarter View
Jacopo Bassano (Jacopo da Ponte)
1510–92
The Entombment
Jacopo Bassano (Jacopo da Ponte)
John Baptist Jackson
1739
A Virgin and Child, volume 2, plate 134 from "Monuments des Arts du Dessin"
Multiple artists/makers
1829
The Annunciation to the Shepherds, Jacopo Bassano (Jacopo da Ponte) Italian, Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash, highlighted with white, on green-washed paper
The Annunciation to the Shepherds
Jacopo Bassano (Jacopo da Ponte)
1510–92

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