Head of Bearded Man (Study for The Baptism of Christ ) 1845

Camille Corot painted this study in oils on canvas as preparation for his larger work, The Baptism of Christ. Corot lived through immense social change in France, experiencing the shift from aristocratic to bourgeois society, and this tension is played out in his art. Corot, like many artists of his time, was exploring both the traditional and the modern. Landscape painting had become popular, expressing new ideas of nature and national identity. But consider, too, the religious aspect of this study: a moment of divine recognition. What would it have meant to Corot to paint this scene, embedding the idea of divinity within the ordinary world? Ultimately, this sketch serves as a reminder that even within the most conventional of subjects, artists find ways to express personal and emotional truths. In it, Corot seems to be searching for a balance between spiritual representation and the simple beauty of the physical world.