Old Masters · Matthew 3:3 · 5 October 2026 · 4 works

The Voice in the Wilderness

For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.

For Advent: John the Baptist alone, before a crowd, and pointing away from himself.

John sits on a rock in a green valley and broods, his head propped on his hand, one bare foot rubbing over the other. Beside him lies the lamb. It is not a desert: there are trees, a stream, animals and birds.

Geertgen tot Sint Jans, Saint John the Baptist in the Wilderness, c. 1490 — **Geertgen tot Sint Jans**, Saint John the Baptist in the Wilderness, c. 1490

We stand at the back of a crowd in a wood. Peasants, townspeople, soldiers and strangers in foreign dress listen to a man in brown far off among the trees. Most of what we see is backs.

Pieter Bruegel the Elder, The Sermon of Saint John the Baptist, 1566 — **Pieter Bruegel the Elder**, The Sermon of Saint John the Baptist, 1566

John stands on a rise in a patch of light and preaches with his arm stretched out. Around him a great crowd sits, stands and listens, or does not listen: children play, dogs roam about, and three men in the foreground have turned their backs.

Rembrandt, Saint John the Baptist Preaching, c. 1634–35 — **Rembrandt**, Saint John the Baptist Preaching, c. 1634–35

A young man comes out of the dark, smiles and points upward with one finger. His other hand rests on his chest. The thin cross of reeds that identifies him is almost invisible.

Leonardo da Vinci, Saint John the Baptist, c. 1513–16 — **Leonardo da Vinci**, Saint John the Baptist, c. 1513–16