The Baptism of Christ

This luminous engraving depicts Christ being baptized by his cousin Saint John the Baptist in the River Jordan. The scene is sparsely populated; the only witnesses are God the Father, visible in a cloud, and an angel holding dry clothes for Christ’s later use. John clasps an elegantly bound volume, anachronistically referring to baptism as a sacramental rite of the Christian faith. Here John touches Christ’s forehead with two fingers, rather than pouring water over his head from his cupped hands. This distinction suggests that Schongauer’s print shows John anointing Christ with oil in the final part of the baptism ceremony.