Icon with St John the Baptist
- Gallery: Room 46
- Made in: Crete
- Date: 1450 (circa)
- Object type: icon
- Materials: cedar wood; linen; gold; gesso
- Museum number: 2000,1106.1
- Museum: The British Museum
- Collection record: British Museum website
- Image © The Trustees of the British Museum, shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence.
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About this object
Before you is an "Icon with St John the Baptist," created in Crete around 1450. This striking icon is painted in egg tempera and gold over gesso and linen, mounted on cedar wood. The figure of St John the Baptist is shown winged, standing before rocky mountains. He raises his right hand in blessing and holds a staff and an inscribed scroll in his left.
The scroll bears words in Greek, recounting St John’s martyrdom: an eloquent plea addressing Christ about Herod’s cruel act. A small image of Christ blesses from the upper left corner, framed in gold and blue.
The icon has been trimmed, likely losing its original full-length figure and important details like St John’s head and a dedicatory inscription. Despite this, it remains poignant and rich with meaning, offering a glimpse into Cretan icon painting of the period.
See it in person
Icon with St John the Baptist is on display in Room 46 at the British Museum on Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, London — free to enter. Choose British Museum on audioguide.london and take a photo of it to hear this free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
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