Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, St. John the Baptist in the Wilderness (1604), Gallerie Nazionale, Rome.

The brooding, ruddy faced youth with sun-burned hands and neck points to Caravaggio’s use of genre figures. The face barely emerges from deep shadow as the young saint supports himself on the reed-cross. Again, Caravaggio employs diagonals and counter-diagonals in this painting.

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, St. John the Baptist in the Wilderness (1604), Kansas City.

Again the brooding saint. Is he contemplating his own future, his own impending death as he rests in the wilderness? The forboding look on the young saint’s face is mirrored in the dark background and the withering leaves at his feet, a contrast to the bright, vibrant leaves of the 1598 version.