Vatican Museums

The Baptism of Jesus is a preparatory work produced by Publio Morbiducci on commission from the International Institute of Liturgical Art for the baptismal font of the Cathedral of Manila, dedicated to the Immaculate Conception. The commission also included the front panel for the Altar of the Holy Sacrament, the door of the tabernacle, the four symbols of the pedestal and the embossed drawings for the cover of the baptismal font of the Filipino cathedral, which was destroyed during the Second World War and rebuilt in 1951. Morbiducci had also depicted the same subject in a medal dating from 1950. Here the Roman sculptor, known primarily for his monument to the Bersagliere at Porta Pia (1931-1932), presents it by creating a sort of formal involucrum that isolates and amplifies the sacred nature of the scene: Christ and John the Baptist are depicted inside a sort of imaginary membrane, maintaining a physical and gestural autonomy that indicates the moment without dwelling on description of the details.