Here we see the young Saint John the Baptist in a charming, typically Flemish painting. The saint is identified by his attributes – the cross, the lamb, and the austere woollen tunic. The lonely place where the Precursor has retired to is not a parched desert but rather a luxuriant forest inhabited by delightful animals, enlivened by the songs of countless birds and swarming with insects and even pretty little snails. Here too the representation of an important biblical figure becomes an opportunity to create a genre picture.
