The Baptism of Christ, Corot’s only official commission during his lifetime, was painted between 1845 and 1847 for the chapel of christenings in the Parisian church of Saint-Nicolas-du-Chardonnet. It is presumably through Théodore Scribe that Corot was commissioned to deliver this important painting, the creation of which was documented by Étienne Moreau-Nélaton (E. Moreau-Nélaton, Histoire de Corot et de ses oeuvres, d’après les documents recueillis par Alfred Robaut, Paris, 1905, t. I, p. 109-113) et le comte Doria (op. cit. et « Corot et le Baptême du Christ« , Gazette des Beaux-Arts, 6e période, vol. 43, mai-juin 1954, p. 317-344.)

The Louvre museum owns a drawing overviewing the whole composition, in which the placement of Christ distinctly differs from the definitive work (see Cabinet des dessins du musée du Louvre, fonds des dessins et miniatures, inv. RF 3355 verso), yet is similar to the posture of the figure in our piece. Most probably drawn from nature, our piece represents Jesus with his hands crossed onto his torso, ready to receive the baptism of John the Baptist. Corot would then go on to polish the general movement using squaring, as showcased in a drawing sold on March 27th, 2019, at Christie’s in Paris (n° 113). Our drawing might thus have been executed between those two other sketches.