John The Baptist
From the Acts of the Apostles-
And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples,
He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John's baptism. |
The followers of John the Baptist did not know anything more than what John had taught. Therefore, John did not preach that Jesus was the Messiah.
The Gospel according to Luke-
The Gospel according to Luke-
And John calling unto him two of his disciples sent them to Jesus, saying,
Art thou he that should come? or look we for another? When the men were come unto him, they said, John Baptist hath sent us unto thee, saying, Art thou he that should come? or look we for another? |
Both the Acts of the Apostles and the Gospel of Luke clearly demonstrate John the Baptist did not know Jesus was the Messiah.
Not only was John the Baptist confused about Jesus' status as Messiah, but future western artists were confused about the relationship between John the Baptist and Jesus. This confusion is not only limited to their ages (some depict John as being much older than Jesus), but, surprisingly, to what emblems should be represented. Whereas the cross and the lamb should reference Jesus (crucifixion and the Lamb of God), many times these are used to identify John the Baptist, although John the Baptist was not crucified, but beheaded. One would be lead to believe that these issues would have been resolved by the Renaissance, unfortunately they were not and examples of the confusing iconography is the result.
Not only was John the Baptist confused about Jesus' status as Messiah, but future western artists were confused about the relationship between John the Baptist and Jesus. This confusion is not only limited to their ages (some depict John as being much older than Jesus), but, surprisingly, to what emblems should be represented. Whereas the cross and the lamb should reference Jesus (crucifixion and the Lamb of God), many times these are used to identify John the Baptist, although John the Baptist was not crucified, but beheaded. One would be lead to believe that these issues would have been resolved by the Renaissance, unfortunately they were not and examples of the confusing iconography is the result.
The pointing finger and the Cross indicate this individual as John the Baptist.
The painter did not know that John was only 6 months older than Jesus. The uneducated viewer might think Jesus (holding the cross) is pointing at the infant John. |
The pointing finger identifies John the Baptist.
He is pointing at the cross. The uniformed viewer might think this painting depicts Jesus. |
The painter did not know that John the Baptist was previously beheaded and could not be present at the Crucifixion.
It is possible that the artist confused John the Baptist with John the beloved disciple (who was present at the crucifixion). |
The painter did not know that John the Baptist was only 6 months older than Jesus.
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Conclusion
There is a great amount of confusion in Western iconography concerning Jesus and Saint John the Baptist. We can not determine if this confusion was deliberate or if the standards had not been established at the time of the execution of the paintings. If the later, then we can conclude that the stories relating to Jesus and John the Baptist had not been agreed upon by the 15th and 16th centuries.
There is a great amount of confusion in Western iconography concerning Jesus and Saint John the Baptist. We can not determine if this confusion was deliberate or if the standards had not been established at the time of the execution of the paintings. If the later, then we can conclude that the stories relating to Jesus and John the Baptist had not been agreed upon by the 15th and 16th centuries.