Bartolomé Esteban Murillo
, Spanish, 1617-1682
Title
The Infant Saint John Playing with a LambDate1670-1680
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions
61 x 44 cm
Credit LinePurchased, 1869
Object numberNGI.33
ProvenanceChoiseul-praslin sale, Paris, 18 February 1793, lot 16; where probably purchased by Prince Alexander Besborodko, Grand Chancellor of the Russian Empire under Catherine II and Paul I; purchased, Doucheleff Besborodko sale, Hotel Drouot, Paris, 5 June 1869, lot 21Exhibition HistoryMurillo IV Centenario, Museo de Bellas Artes de Sevilla, Seville, 28 November 2018 - 17 March 2019Label TextThe Spanish artist Murillo painted this scene of the infant John the Baptist caressing a lamb. The saint wears a brown skin loin-cloth and a vermilion cloak and holds a bamboo staff in the form of a cross. The lamb is a symbolic representation of Christ in his sacrificial role, as described in the gospel of John: 'the next day John saw Jesus coming unto him, and said, Behold the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world'. The spiritual connection between Saint John and the lamb hints at the future sacrifices both men would endure.