John the Baptist in the Wilderness

Geertgen worked in Haarlem in the 1480s for the Knights of Saint John, the monastic order that gave him his name, which means little Gerard of the Saint Johns. He died at about 30, and only a handful of his paintings survive. This small panel was made to be held and prayed with, a meditation aid for someone in the order. Instead of showing John the Baptist preaching or baptising, Geertgen shows him sitting alone in a soft green landscape, chin on hand, lost in thought about the suffering to come. Sources note that he seems not to notice the birds and animals around him, and that he is absently rubbing one bare foot against the other, a small human gesture in a place that looks like paradise.