The Baptism of Christ

This small panel was never meant to stand alone. Around 1497 Perugino finished a tall altarpiece for the monks of San Pietro in Perugia, the Ascension of Christ crowning it and, along the base, a row of small scenes from his life. This is one of them, the baptism in the river Jordan, John the Baptist pouring the water as the sky opens above. During the French campaigns in Italy the altarpiece was taken apart, and its pieces were shared out among French museums in 1803. The large Ascension went to Lyon. Three of the little base panels, including this Baptism, went to Rouen, where they hang today.