Saint John the Baptist Preaching in the Desert

A precocious talent, Jean-Baptiste Deshays married Rococo artist François Boucher’s daughter and became his father-in-law’s protégé. Although best known as a painter of religious subjects, Deshays often employed the soft, highly fluid manner that Boucher used for his amorous “boudoir” pictures. In fact, this work was for a long time believed to be by Boucher. The subject of the painting derives from the Gospel of Matthew: Seated before the multitude with his arms dramatically outstretched, John the Baptist warns, “Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”