John the Baptist (Caravaggio) Jordan, and was eventually killed by Herod Antipas when he called upon the king to reform his evil ways. John was frequently shown in Christian art, identifiable by his bowl, reed cross, camel's skin and lamb. The most popular scene prior to the Counter-Reformation was of John's baptism of Jesus, or else the infant Baptist together with the infant Jesus and Mary his mother, frequently supplemented by the Baptist's own mother St Elizabeth. John alone in the desert was less popular, but not unknown. For the young Caravaggio, John was invariably a boy or youth alone in the wilderness. This
Christianity in the 1st century more significant than any other New Testament authors, but the relationship of Paul of Tarsus and Judaism is still disputed today. The ministry of Jesus, according to the account of the Gospels, falls into a pattern of sectarian preachers with devoted disciples. After being baptized by John the Baptist, Jesus preached for a period of one to three years in the early 1st century AD. Jesus' method of teaching involved parables, metaphor, allegory, sayings, proverbs, and a small number of direct sermons such as the Sermon on the Mount. His ministry was ended by his execution by crucifixion at the