The Birth and Naming of John the Baptist
Typical of Flemish art of the period, this scene suggests a comfortable home of the late 1400s in the Netherlands to frame the story of a biblical birth. Elizabeth, mother of Saint John the Baptist, rests after her labor, while her cousin, the Virgin Mary, presents the newborn to his father, Zacharias. Having lost his ability to speak when he doubted an angel’s prophecy of the child’s birth, Zacharias writes down his son’s name. At this moment, his speech is restored. This painting was once part of an altarpiece commissioned by Queen Isabella I of Castile, known as the Catholic (1451–1504),...
Details
- Palette
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Select a color to find related artworks.
- Medium
- oil on wood
- Dimensions
- framed: height 0.99 m, width 0.6 m, depth 0.075 m; unframed: height 0.884 m, width 0.499 m
- Origin
- Flanders, early 16th Century
- Department
- Medieval Art
- Holding institution
- Cleveland Museum of Art
- Image provider
- cleveland-museum-of-art
- License
- CC0-1.0
- Credit
- John L. Severance Fund
Art Genome Taxonomy
12 tags
Subject Matter
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Bible Story Both · 99%
The title and museum description identify the biblical birth and naming of John the Baptist; the image shows Elizabeth, the Virgin Mary, the infant John, and Zacharias in the depicted episode.
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Interiors Both · 99%
The scene is visibly set in a furnished household interior with a canopied bed, tiled floor, carved woodwork, a wall clock, textiles, and domestic objects. The museum description characterizes it as a comfortable late-fifteenth-century home.
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Narrative Both · 98%
The figures enact a specific sequence of birth, presentation, and naming, while Zacharias’s writing provides a clear narrative action rather than a static devotional arrangement.
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Text Both · 99%
Zacharias visibly writes on a sheet of paper in the foreground, and the museum description identifies his written naming of the child as the episode’s decisive action.
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People at Home Both · 90%
Several figures occupy an intimate household setting, including a reclining woman, a seated man writing, a woman holding the infant, and a standing woman carrying a platter. The museum description explicitly frames the biblical event within a home.
Styles and Movements
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Dutch and Flemish Metadata · 97%
The artist is identified as Netherlandish, the place of origin as Flanders, and the museum describes the work as typical of Flemish art of the period.
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Medieval Art Metadata · 99%
The museum classifies the work as Medieval Art.
Visual Qualities
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Highly Detailed Visual · 95%
The image renders facial features, hair, carved wood, patterned textiles, bedding, floor tiles, writing materials, and small household objects with sustained descriptive precision.
Medium and Techniques
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Oil Painting Metadata · 99%
The museum records the medium as oil on wood.
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Oil on Panel Metadata · 98%
The work is painted in oil on a wooden support, corresponding to oil-on-panel technique.
Time Periods
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15th Century Art Metadata · 95%
The museum dates the work to 1496–99, placing its execution in the fifteenth century.
Cultural and Religious Styles
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Christian Art and Architecture Both · 98%
The museum identifies a biblical Christian subject involving the Virgin Mary and John the Baptist, and the image visibly presents this sacred narrative and its holy figures.
Source & rights
Juan de Flandes (Netherlandish, c. 1460–1519). The Birth and Naming of John the Baptist. Cleveland Museum of Art.