Battesimo di Cristo

—The painting, which marked Albani's return home after his long stay in Rome, is one of the artist's masterpieces of sacred painting. Against the background of a deep landscape illuminated by the first light of dawn, John baptises Christ while two angels cover his limbs. God the Father witnesses the scene and sends the Holy Spirit to announce the Son's presence on earth. The classical approach of the painting stems from direct study of antiquity and contact with the mature works of Annibale Carracci in Rome.