The Preaching of John the Baptist, 1634, Oil on wood, 21 1/2 x 29 5/8 in. (54. 6 x 75. 2 cm), Paintings, Bartholomeus Breenbergh (Dutch, Deventer 1598?1657 Amsterdam), This well-preserved picture by Breenbergh, a pioneer of Italianate landscape painting, dates from a few years after his return from Rome to Amsterdam. The subject of Saint John preaching in the wilderness was often employed by Dutch artists as an analogy to Protestant worship when the Netherlands was still ruled by Catholic Spain