The Baptism of Christ in the River Jordan

The Baptism of Christ in the River Jordan — Lucas van Leyden. about 1510.

Medium: Engraving in black on ivory laid paper. Dimensions: Image/sheet, trimmed within platemark: 14.3 × 18.2 cm (5 11/16 × 7 3/16 in.).

Collection record: Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago. Museum connection according to this source; current display unverified.

Lucas van Leyden’s inverted staging of Christ’s baptism differs significantly from the Martin Schongauer engraving seen nearby. While Schongauer placed the important action in front of a rocky landscape, Lucas concealed it in a forest grove, instead emphasizing the onlookers and the small child at the bottom, who gestures toward Christ. Lucas often used this pictorial device to reset expectations about the subject of his prints, lingering on the costumes and characterizations in the foreground. Here, his avoidance of haloes, heavenly hosts, and the anachronistic volume consulted by Schongauer’s John turn the baptism into a more commonplace event.

Description: © Art Institute of Chicago, original record, CC BY 4.0. HTML formatting removed; wording retained. Other artwork metadata: CC0.

Source: official collection record. Metadata selected and normalized by Artline from the source export, accessed 10 September 2026; no museum endorsement. Reproduction rights are separate.