John the Baptist
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John the Baptist | |
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Birthplace | Jerusalem |
Known for | Being a gift from God to his father Zachariah, Prophesying with the scripture, Attaining wisdom in youth |
John the Baptist
John the Baptist
According to gospel mythology, the closest predecessor of Jesus Christ; he prophesied the coming of the messiah (the Christ).
John the Baptist lived in the wilderness (in imitation of the Old Testament prophet Elijah), denounced the evils of society, and called on people to repent; he baptized Jesus Christ. A reference is made to John the Baptist by Josephus Flavius (first century A.D.) stating that John lived when Galilee was ruled by Herod Antipas (first half of the first century). To please his mistress Herodias, Herod had John the Baptist imprisoned and later ordered him decapitated. John the Baptist has been the subject of many paintings (A. del Verrocchio, Leonardo da Vinci, P. Brueghel, A.A. Ivanov) and sculptures (Donatello, Rodin). In medieval iconography John the Baptist was one of the three necessary figures for the Deisus (Christ, the mother of god, and John the Baptist).