# Saint John the Baptist Entering the Wilderness

**Giovanni di Paolo** (Italian, 1398–1482)  
1455–60  
Tempera on panel  
68.5 × 36.2 cm (27 × 14 1/4 in.); Framed: 79.4 × 47.7 × 8 cm (31 1/4 × 18 3/4 × 3 1/8 in.)

Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.1010. [The museum's record](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/16156).

## About this work

The young John the Baptist leaves his home through a city gate at the lower left and reappears higher up, climbing a winding path into fantastical, folded mountains, so that one panel tells a whole journey. Below him spreads a patchwork of fields laid out like a map. Giovanni di Paolo, one of the most imaginative painters of fifteenth-century Siena, made the panel as part of a series of scenes from the saint’s life, several of which are in the Art Institute. Its jewel-like colour and dreamlike geography are typical of his highly personal style.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

Giovanni di Paolo painted this in 1455–60, aged about 57. It is now at the Art Institute of Chicago.

### What you’re looking at

A work made of tempera on panel.

_Description from the Art Institute of Chicago._

### How it was made

- **Tempera.** Pigment bound with egg yolk. It dries in minutes and can’t be blended wet, so painters built up form with fine, hatched strokes. It was Europe’s main panel technique before oil.

### [Giovanni di Paolo](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/giovanni-di-paolo)

Italian, 1398–1482; born in Siena; died in Siena

Giovanni di Paolo spent his long career in Siena, where he was one of the city’s leading painters through the fifteenth century. Holding to the Sienese tradition of gold grounds and graceful line, he created a highly personal world of slender figures, steep, patterned landscapes and vivid storytelling, seen in narrative panels such as Saint John the Baptist Entering the Wilderness and The Creation of the World and the Expulsion from Paradise.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

## Facts

- Type: Painting
- Culture: Italy
- The artist was about 57
- Real size: about 27 × 14 in (68 × 36 cm). The 18 × 24 in print is close to life size.
- Century: 15th century
- Movement: [Renaissance](https://www.ochreeditions.com/movements/renaissance)
- Subjects: Saint John the Baptist, biblical, Christian subjects, Christianity, Devotion, Italy, religious, religious figures
- Colour: brown
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/43.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/43/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68; 20 × 30 in $86; 24 × 36 in $108; 30 × 40 in $148
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164; 20 × 30 in $208; 24 × 36 in $258; 30 × 40 in $338
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118; 20 × 30 in $148; 24 × 36 in $178; 30 × 40 in $228
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3; 20 × 30 in $5; 24 × 36 in $5; 30 × 40 in $5

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/saint-john-the-baptist-entering-the-wilderness-aic-16156).