BLOEMAERT, Abraham
(b. 1566, Gorinchem, d. 1651, Utrecht)

The Preaching of St John the Baptist

1595-1600
Oil on canvas, 139 x 188 cm
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

The subject of this painting was very popular in the Netherlands among Protestants and Catholics alike in the closing years of the 16th century. This canvas, with its colourful figures, is the most impressive of the versions that the Catholic Bloemaert painted of the subject. One striking feature is the prominence given to the landscape, which is in a wholly Flemish style.




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