Landscape with St. John the Baptist Preaching

Flemish artist Joachim Patinir painted this Landscape with St. John the Baptist Preaching around 1510, pioneering landscape as an independent genre. The view plunges over a vast imaginary panorama dominated by a serene sky. A rocky mass rises on the left while a river winds to the horizon on the right.

John the Baptist and his audience gather in shade beneath thick trees as bright light illuminates the meandering river behind them. Patinir uses color to create depth: dark browns and greens in the foreground shift to lighter blues and grays in the distance. Dürer called him "the good landscape painter." Versions exist in Brussels and Philadelphia.