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Oil painting of a half-naked bearded man with a staff preaching from a rock, with cherubs above and listeners in turbans below in a desert landscape.

Saint John the Baptist Preaching in the Desert

A seminude bearded man with a staff gestures emphatically while seated on a rocky outcrop, his arm raised toward a cloud. Cherubs hover above, and a crowd of figures in turbans and draped fabric listens in the foreground. Loose, sketchy brushwork in warm flesh tones and stormy blue-grey sky suggests an oil study of a sermon in the wilderness.

Artist
Jean Baptiste Henri Deshays
Date
c. 1758–64
Medium
Oil on canvas
Source
Art Institute of Chicago
Size
843 × 1364 px
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Public domain · Art Institute of Chicago releases this image under CC0 (latest date 1769).
Rights checked 2026-11-05 · tier A · as stated by the source: CC0 (Art Institute of Chicago, is_public_domain=true)

Credit (appreciated, not required for public-domain works): Art Institute of Chicago, Gift of Mrs. Eugene A. Davidson

Español: San Juan Bautista predicando en el desierto

Un hombre barbudo, casi desnudo, con un bastón, gesticula con energía sentado sobre una roca, con el brazo alzado hacia una nube. Querubines flotan en lo alto, y en primer plano un grupo de figuras con turbantes y telas escucha. La pincelada suelta, en tonos cálidos de carne y un cielo azul grisáceo, sugiere un boceto al óleo de un sermón en el desierto.

Português: São João Batista pregando no deserto

Um homem barbudo, quase nu, com um bastão, gesticula com energia sentado sobre uma rocha, com o braço erguido em direção a uma nuvem. Querubins flutuam no alto, e no primeiro plano um grupo de figuras com turbantes e tecidos escuta. A pincelada solta, em tons quentes de carne e um céu azul-acinzentado, sugere um estudo a óleo de um sermão no deserto.

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