Leonardo da Vinci’s Saint John the Baptist

Leonardo da Vinci’s Saint John the Baptist painting, showing the saint against a dark landscape, pointing up toward the sky with a wry smile on his face. His upward gesture speaks to our need for verticality, even with it’s religious context.

This is Leonardo da Vinci’s painting Saint John the Baptist, painted near the end of da Vinci’s life and career, sometime around 1515. It shows the saint, dimly lit against a dark background and gesturing with his right hand up to the sky. His upward gesture is the focus of the work, since his arm is the closest to the frame, and also the brightest part.

On the surface, da Vinci most likely used the upward gesture to symbolize the Christian ideas of Heaven and the salvation of sinners here on Earth. There is a deeper meaning behind this gesture, however. The simple act of pointing up toward the sky draws our attention to the space above our heads, and reminds us of our innate need to escape the surface of the Earth. In addition, the contrast of light and dark are metaphors for good and evil, as well as the righteous and the wicked. Saint John is rendered as a beacon of light in a landscape of darkness, much like the light of the heavens he gestures towards.

Gesturing towards the sky can still be seen today, and it’s usually to acknowledge a higher power in some way. Sports figures often point upwards when entering play or after scoring. When someone narrowly escapes death or injury, a point upwards acknowledges there’s someone up there looking out for us. Jewish men wear yarmulkes to remind them of a divine presence above their heads. Each of these gestures, among many others, are a way of acknowledging that there’s something up there, and it’s greater than those of us that are down here.

Da Vinci has encapsulated the human need for verticality in his depiction of Saint John. The saint’s upward gesture and his wry smile hint at this deeper meaning, which is obscured by the religious context of the work.

Check out more examples of verticality in the arts.