Vatican Museums

Sixth volume of the series Art and Faith, dedicated to the sacrament of Baptism and its representation in the figurative arts. The author retraces the narration of the Baptism of Jesus in the four Gospels and its transposition in fresco by Perugino in the Sistine Chapel. Then he elaborates a theological and artistic excursus, guiding the reader to understand the real meaning of the sacrament in all its aspects, by revealing the deep connections with the Sacred Scriptures, and the reinterpretation proposed by the artists in their visual representations.

The photographic set is particularly rich in the section of the plates at the end of the book, with colour reproductions of wholes and details of the works related to the sacrament of Baptism, kept in the Vatican Museums and in the Baptistery of Florence. These reproductions can help to get a better understanding of the message of the Baptism, the “most beautiful and magnificent among the gifts of God”.