3-072-019 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Sermon of Saint John the Baptist, between 1605-1615. Taken from the Gospel, according to Luke (Lk 3: 1-7), the artist used the theme for showing contemporary events under the pretence of a Biblical illustration. He referred to secret religious meetings with the participation of wandering Protestant preachers that were held in forest glades or in other secluded places outside the city in the Netherlands, which were ruled by the Catholic Habsburgs. The central theme of the painting is the portrayal of a crowd of listeners clothed in garments from the artist's epoch, who have gathered in a small forest glade. On the elevation in the background, we can see the figure of a prophet in a brown robe. He is delivering a sermon and pointing at the figure of Christ in blue clothes with his left hand. In the crowd, there are also foreigners, including a conspicuous nobleman in a black Spanish garment. A gypsy is foretelling the future to whom, from his palm. He is a representative of Catholic Spain, a figure which presumably embodies a dislike for the reformed religion.