Saint John the Baptist

Master of the Morrison Triptych · c. 1490

Medium

Oil on panel

Original size

52.4 × 14.3 cm (20 11/16 × 5 11/16 in.)

Currently held

Art Institute of Chicago

Movement

Italian Renaissance

Saint John the Baptist by the Master of the Morrison Triptych is a quietly commanding devotional panel, the saint rendered with the serene intensity that defines the finest Flemish work of the late fifteenth century. The anonymous master takes his name from a triptych now dispersed across several collections, and his paintings reflect the tradition of Rogier van der Weyden's workshop: precise draftsmanship, layered glazes that give flesh its luminous depth, and drapery folded with almost sculptural authority. His figures carry weight without heaviness — a balance that sets him apart from lesser painters working in the same idiom. In this panel, John holds the Agnus Dei — the Lamb of God — a direct reference to his role as the herald of Christ's coming, an image rendered with the quiet conviction that made such devotional panels central to private prayer in late medieval households. The work belongs to a moment when Flemish painters were pushing toward greater naturalism while retaining the spiritual gravity of an older generation, and that tension gives the figure a rare sense of presence. Our hand-painted oil reproduction captures the original's warm ochres, layered shadows, and fine detail — restoring the intimate scale and devotional weight the master intended.