Baptism of Christ

The scene of John the Baptist baptizing Christ, which takes place on the bank of the Jordan River, forms the core of the composition. dividing the sylvan landscape in A deep vista shows the riverbed dividing the sylvan landscape, with figures on both the banks. The open sky reveals the figure of God the Father, surrounded by angels, and the dove of the Holy Spirit, descending on Christ. The National Gallery in Prague painting is just one of a number of copies of the original by Hans Rottenhammer and Jan I Brueghel from Munich, Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen. In the same manner as with Paul Bril, Rottenhammer collaborated with Jan I Brueghel, who also painted landscapes to his figures. Rottenhammer and Brueghel painted the original painting c. 1597, at the time when the former moved from Rome to Venice. The Prague copy can be dated into the beginning of the second quarter of the 17th century at the earliest. The preparatory drawing for the Munich composition, which partially differs from the final painting, is kept in the Collection of Prints and Drawings of the National Gallery in Prague.