Artwork
Ecce Agnus Dei
Ecce Agnus Dei is a tempera painting by the Early Renaissance artist Giovanni di Paolo. It dates from 1458 and is held in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago.
- Accession no.
- 16159
- Credit line
- Mr. and Mrs. Martin A. Ryerson Collection
About this work
Overview
Ecce Agnus Dei is a tempera on panel painting, one of six surviving panels from a original set of 12 that likely adorned the doors of a reliquary shrine dedicated to Saint John the Baptist.
Subject & Meaning
The painting depicts John the Baptist, a thin figure in a camel-hair robe, pointing to a lamb on a book, symbolizing his announcement of Jesus as the Agnus Dei (Lamb of God), emphasizing his prophetic role in Christianity.
Technique & Style
The work features expressive, stylized figures against a gold leaf background, which was designed to illuminate in candlelight, evoking a heavenly aura. Giovanni di Paolo's imaginative settings and repeated character depictions convey narrative movement.
History & Provenance
Originally part of a 12-panel set for a reliquary shrine, this painting is now one of six in the Art Institute of Chicago's collection, having been separated from its complete narrative sequence.
Context
As part of a larger narrative series, Ecce Agnus Dei is contextualized by other panels depicting John's life, from his ascetic wilderness life in a hair shirt to his imprisonment and execution by Herod.
Legacy
While the full set's dispersal limits its original impact, the painting remains significant as a surviving example of Giovanni di Paolo's work and 15th-century religious art, with its stylistic and thematic contributions to the Saint John the Baptist narrative cycle.
Artist & collection
Artist
Giovanni di Paolo di Grazia was an Italian painter, working primarily in Siena, becoming a prolific painter and illustrator of manuscripts, including Dante's texts.
The Adoration of the Magi
The Presentation of Christ in the Temple
Madonna and Child with Two Angels and a Donor
Paradise
Saint Catherine of Siena Beseeching Christ to Resuscitate Her Mother
Saint Catherine of Siena Receiving the Stigmata
The Annunciation to Zacharias; (verso) The Angel of the Annunciation
The Creation of the World and the Expulsion from Paradise
![Scenes from the Passion of Christ: The Descent into Limbo [right panel], by Andrea Vanni](https://artifactworldgallery.com/img/andrea-vanni--scenes-from-the-passion-of-christ-the-descent-into-limbo-rig--9eb5d32175c31b6f-w320.webp)
