St John the Baptist
In this icon, John the Baptist is shown full length-facing the viewer, against a featureless gold background. Various artistic details allow us to infer details about the period and maker of the work: St John’s unkempt hair and beard are depicted in the stylised manner typically adopted for paintings of the Baptist by Cretan artists. The presence of areas of lighter tone on his face, suggesting paler skin, was a technique introduced into post-Byzantine paintings.