Saint John the Baptist
1505
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
1505
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
A thin, bearded man stands in a rocky landscape, holding a bowl of water. His body looks worn from living outdoors, and the background fades into soft, misty hills. This is John the Baptist, drawn as a print around 1505. The artist used tiny dots—called stippling—to create gentle shading instead of sharp lines. It was a new way to make skin and shadows look softer. To see more works like this, look up *sfumato*.
