Baptism of Christ

Clemente and the “Baptism of Christ” at Castiglione Olona are milestones in the history of landscape painting. With their light tonality and elegant, rhythmical figures, the scenes by Masolino in the Baptistery and Collegiata form two of the most fascinating fresco cycles of the 15th century.

…inconsistent with that of the Baptism of Christ (c. 1470–75), which has been attributed to Verrocchio ever since it was first mentioned in 1550 by the Renaissance biographer Giorgio Vasari (1511–74) in his Vite de’ più eccellenti pittori, scultori, ed architettori italiani… (Lives of the Most Eminent Italian Painters, Sculptors,…

…angel he contributed to Verrocchio’s Baptism of Christ (c. 1472–75): Leonardo endowed the angel with natural movement, presented it with a relaxed demeanour, and gave it an enigmatic glance that both acknowledges its surroundings while remaining inwardly directed. In Leonardo’s landscape segment in the same picture, he also found a…