Jesu Dåb 1637 - 1724

"Jesu Dåb" is a sepia drawing by Sigismondo Caula, created sometime between 1637 and 1724. Caula’s work is informed by the Baroque period in Italy, a time marked by religious reform and renewed spiritual intensity. Here, John the Baptist performs a baptism, a ritual of purification and spiritual rebirth. We see figures, rendered with remarkable sensitivity, positioned along a horizontal plane. Caula’s artistic language elevates emotion, and the viewer is invited to contemplate the human form within the context of faith and divine encounter. Consider the implications of baptism, a moment of transformation. What does it mean to leave behind the old self and embrace a new identity? In Caula's time, as now, such a profound change is both personal and political, a redefinition of one's place in the world.