JACOB BACKER; Late 16th - early 17th century."Baptism of Christ".Oil on panel. Engatillada.It has an

JACOB BACKER; Late 16th - early 17th century.
"Baptism of Christ".
Oil on panel. Engatillada.
It has an opening in the panel.
It has slight repainting and restorations.
Measurements: 67 x 50,5 cm; 86 x 70 cm (frame).
The present work shows an idealised natural landscape in the background, with the main figures in the foreground at a large size, as was customary after the provisions of the Council of Trent which directed the change of Roman Catholicism in the Counter-Reformation. On the left, dressed in his characteristic red cloak, is Saint John the Baptist, pouring water over Christ. Christ kneeling over the water is clothed only in a cloth of purity, and his posture shows a gesture of great humility as he bows his head while holding his two hands clasped on his chest. The scene is completed by the presence of more figures in the background, located to the sides of the two protagonists, forming a classical pyramid-shaped composition, which is crowned at the top by the presence of the dove of the Holy Spirit. Iconographically, the theme of the Baptism of Christ is one of the oldest in Christian art due to its theological importance and the Sacrament that derives from it (which is why it has undergone variations that can sometimes be related to liturgical variations in the Sacrament of Baptism). As is logical, it has varied according to the time, style and school to which each work belongs.
From its formal characteristics we can relate this work to the Flemish Mannerist painter Jacob de Backer. Active in Antwerp between approximately 1571 and 1585, although he died very young, de Backer was a very prolific artist, and today we know of a large body of work attributed to him. However, there is no consensus among historians as to which of these works are by his hand and which were executed by his workshop. In any case, his is a late Mannerist idiom clearly influenced by Italian models. Little is known today about his biography, and in fact the dates of his birth and death are unknown. De Backer is mentioned by his biographer Karel van Mander, who states that he was abandoned as a child by his father, also a painter, who had been forced to flee Antwerp to escape a court case. Van Mander goes on to state that he spent several years in the studio of an Italian-born but Protestant painter and art dealer known as Antonio van Palermo. He later moved to the studio of Hendrick van Steenwijck the Elder. Van Mander also states that Palermo mistreated him to such an extent that de Backer died at the age of thirty in the arms of his master's daughter. Since van Mander indicates that this had happened a long time ago, it should have happened before van Steenwijck's departure from Antwerp in 1586, which would place van Backer's death before that year. However, scholars have also suggested that he may have died between 1591 and 1600. In fact, little is known about his training, and in fact there are no documents proving that he entered the Guild of Saint Luke in Antwerp. Furthermore, although his work reveals a strong Italian influence, particularly that of Giorgio Vasari, there is no evidence to show that he travelled to Italy, as did other Flemish contemporaries. Works attributed to Jacob de Backer are now in the Capodimonte Museum in Naples, the Hermitage in Saint Petersburg, the Fine Arts Museum in San Francisco, the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, the Louvre in Paris and the Metropolitan in New York, among other collections.