9Young St. John The Baptist (Room VIII)
Right next to Boy with a Basket of Fruit is Caravaggio’s John in the Wilderness, depicting a tired and frail St. John the Baptist. The overwhelming sadness of this painting both draws you in and pushes you away. An art critic off the street would say that John is grief-stricken thinking of the imminent sacrifice of Jesus Christ. However, anyone who knows the work of Caravaggio would probably say that he hired a poor boy off the street to sit for the painting, who became bored, and Caravaggio painted it.
