The Baptism of Christ (Rubens)

{{Short description|Painting by Peter Paul Rubens}}

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{{Infobox artwork

| title = The Baptism of Christ

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| image = Peter Paul Rubens - Doopsel van Christus (Antwerp).jpg

| image_size = 300px

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| artist = Peter Paul Rubens

| year = 1604-05

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| medium = Oil on canvas

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| height_metric = 411

| width_metric = 675

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| metric_unit = cm

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| museum = Royal Museum of Fine Arts

| city = Antwerp

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The Baptism of Christ is an oil on canvas painting by Peter Paul Rubens, executed in 1604–1605. It depicts John the Baptist baptizing Jesus Christ in the Jordan river. Originally commissioned by the Jesuit Church in Mantua as an altarpiece along with two other paintings,{{Cite web |last=Larsen |first=Erik |last2=Minor |first2=Vernon Hyde |date=1977-01-01 |title=Peter Paul Rubens and The Society of Jesus |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/00233607708603885 |access-date=2025-04-04 |website=www.tandfonline.com |language=EN |doi=10.1080/00233607708603885}} it is now owned by the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp.{{Cite web|url=https://news.yahoo.com/antwerp-puts-big-bold-rubens-141301030.html|title=Antwerp puts big, bold Rubens works into hiding|website=news.yahoo.com|date=5 April 2013 }} Reubens' earliest sketches depicting the poses of John the Baptist and Christ in this scene were probably done in 1601.{{Citation |last=Gold |first=Isabella |title=Alcibiades Interrupting the Symposium (recto); Sketches of the Baptism of Christ and of a Man (verso) |date=2023 |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/347964 |access-date=2025-04-04}}