Christ and St John the Baptist as children, Workshop of Joos van Cleve (1485 – 1541)

Christ and St John the Baptist embracing
Studio of Joos van Cleve (1485 – 1541), Antwerp
First half of 16th century
Oil on oak panel, h. 55 cm, w. 43 cm
A 17th century ebonized wood frame
Framed: h. 100 cm, w. 83 cm

Provenance:
• Advertisement in Burlington Magazine, 1929, at the antique dealer Paul Larsen, 34 Duke's Street, London, United Kingdom
• Clowes Sale, Christie's London, 7 July 1950, lot 153 (as Joos Van Cleve)
• Acquired from the Katz antique dealers in Dieren (Netherlands) in the 1950s (one of the most important art galleries in the Netherlands specialising in Old Masters)
• By descent, private European collection

The composition of our painting depicting two naked babies embracing, Jesus and Saint John the Baptist, draws its source from a drawing by Leonardo da Vinci, probably executed in Milan around 1490 (kept at Windsor Castle, United Kingdom).
This scheme, widespread early in the Lombard school, was widely reproduced by Leonardo's Milanese followers (Marco d'Oggiono, Bernardino de Conti or Bernardino Luini.)
It is very likely that Joos Van Cleve was inspired by one of the works of his artists during his stay in Italy, however some historians hypothesize that he borrowed the figures from the painting by Marco d'Oggiono who had copied it on site in Flanders (it would have belonged to Margaret of Austria).
This pronounced Leonardo influence is characteristic of the works of Joos Van Cleve. The gentleness borrowed from the master is revealed in our painting in the embrace of two protagonists with angelic faces, the absence of the Virgin, a sacred and maternal figure, of halos or attributes, makes this moment of tenderness all the more enchanting as it is difficult to recognize a religious subject.
Yet placed in a northern rural landscape, the scene evokes the meeting of Jesus and Saint John the Baptist during the return of the holy family from Egypt. It is accepted that the child on the right would be Saint John, being the oldest and therefore taller.
This embrace between Jesus and John can be a very original representation of the union of the Old and New Testaments. Indeed, Saint John the Baptist is considered the last prophet of the Old Testament, while Jesus is announced by all the previous prophets and recognized as the ultimate Revelation.

A work by Joos Van Cleve in a private collection in Antwerp has so many similarities with the work of d'Oggiono that some historians consider it to be one of the first in the series of variants and versions that the master produced in his studio.
In his study published in 1934, MJ Friedländer clearly expresses the opinion that this subject was repeated on several occasions in the painter's studio. Initially, Van Cleve himself conceived the initial composition project and carried out the preparatory drawing as well as the pictorial execution. Subsequently, and depending on the importance of the commissions, he either produced the main elements or not, leaving the completion of the secondary parts to his collaborators.
These different versions are distinguished by the addition of decorative elements: the presence of an architectural frame, curtains, cushions or canopies, platforms, as well as varied landscapes.
In our work, the children are placed on the ground, as in Marco d'Oggiono, among rocks and vegetation while the medieval castle stands behind them and a small town appears on the horizon surrounded by a wall and animated by church spires.
An apple is placed in the foreground, alluding to original sin and the mission of Jesus as the future Redeemer.
This fruit, the only one to attest to the holiness of this intimate scene which transcribes the sweetness of childhood, was undoubtedly added at the request of the person who commissioned the painting.

Related works:
• Joos Van Cleve, circa 1515, oil on panel, h. 104 cm, l. 74 cm, Antwerp, private collection (published p. 79*)
• Joos Van Cleve, circa 1515-1520, oil on panel, h. 75 cm, l. 58 cm, Art Institute of Chicago, United States (inv. 1975.136)
• Joos Van Cleve, circa 1515-1520, oil on panel, h. 72.5 cm, l. 54 cm, Royal Museum of Fine Arts of Belgium, Brussels, Belgium
• Workshop of Joos Van Cleve, circa 1515-1520, oil on panel, h. 25.4 cm, l. 25.1 cm, Suermondt-Ludwig Museum, Aachen, inv. GK 1616
• Workshop of Joos Van Cleve, 1525-1530, oil on panel, h. 39 cm, w. 58 cm, St. Catherine's Convent Museum (Catarijnconvent), Utrecht, Netherlands, inv. RMCC s337
• Marco d'Oggiono around 1500, oil on panel, h. 64.5 cm, w. 48.1 cm, Kensington Palace, Royal Collection, London, United Kingdom, inv. 405463

* Bibliography: Joos van Cleve: a sixteenth-century Antwerp artist and his workshop, Leeflang, Micha. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols Publishers; 2015