• 1509
• tempera/canvas
• 141 cm x 292 cm

Mihajlo Hamzic is the last representative of the Dubrovnik school of painting. He was born in Ston in the second half of the 15th century and studied painting in Dubrovnik and Italy. He is also mentioned in records as an apprentice of A. Mantegna in Mantua. He returned to Dubrovnik to continue his studies and in 1508/09 was commissioned by the Council of the Rogatory (the Senate) to make a painting of St. John for one of the halls of the Rector's Palace. Of his later works only the triptych from the Dominican church with a figure of St. Nicholas in the middle has been preserved. In addition to being a painter, he was also a merchant an worked as a customs officer in Dogana - Sponza. He died in Dubrovnik in 1508.

In 1508, the Council of the Rogatory commissioned Hamzic to paint the picture entitled St. John the Baptist, to be placed in the Rector's Palace. However, the painting that has been preserved depicts the motif of the Baptism of Christ, presumably as the result of elaboration of the theme during the work on the painting. Considering the style of painting, the choice of colour, and the typical Mantegnean landscape, this painting most probably represents the same work by this renowned painter, on which many theoreticians of art are agreed (Kovac, Duric, Prijatelj, Markovic).

The baptism scene is set in a lunette with a pyramidal composition. In an imaginary landscape three figures are to be seen: the Christ, St. John, and an angel. The figure of Christ, whose lean, bony body with yellowish skin is immersed in the green water of the Jordan, occupies a central position in the scene as the vertical axis of the painting. Hovering above his head is a white dove symbolising the Holy Spirit. St. John the Baptist is kneeling to his right on a rock, holding a golden jug with baptismal water in his hand. On the opposite side is the kneeling angel dressed in an deacon's robe and holding the Christ's dress. These three figures are surrounded by an unrealistic landscape with sparse trees, naked rocks, and green hills in the background with a large patch of pale blue sky. The landscape also features animals: a grey bird and a fallow deer the size of which is meant to create the impression of depth and render the picture three-dimensional. Colours are transparent, with greenish-blue shades predominating, while forms and shapes are linear .The painting has an elaborately wrought rectangular frame (with a lunette in the middle), decorated with golden leaves. The frame is flanked by two columns with golden Ionic capitals .Ever since it was painted, this picture adorned the Rector's Palace, except for a short period around 1930.

Copyright MDC & Carnet
design NOVENA, Zagreb