event that is being depicted; others have been copied literally from the actual passages

found in the Bible ofAvila.

 Folio CCCXXIII r is composed of three registers that depicts six scenes: Baptism

of Christ, Wedding Feast at Cana, Presentation of Christ at the Temple, First Temptation

of Christ, Second Temptation of Christ and the Third Temptation of Christ (Fig. 7).

 The first register of folio CCCXXIII r contains two scenes. The register has only

one decorative border on the bottom that functions as a ground line. The first scene on the

register is the Baptism of Christ. This story was narrated in all of the Gospels (Matthew

3:13-17; Mark 1:9-11; Luke 3:21-22; John 1:31-34), where we find the traditional

iconography of John the Baptist submerging Christ in the River Jordan. Schiller

identified two parts in the story of the Baptism of Christ. First, John the Baptist baptizes

Jesus. Then a voice from heaven revealing Christ as the Son of God "came" as Jesus

went up out of the water.24 The act of baptism and the descent of the Holy Spirit are seen

as two separate stories. The absence of several key elements, like the angels or the dove

representing the Holy Spirit, suggest that the event being depicted in the Cycle of the Life

and Passion of Christ in the Bible ofAvila is only the act of baptism. John the Baptist is

rendered as a mature man wearing a hair shirt. Beneath the garment, John the Baptist

appears to be nude. Christ is depicted as a bearded mature man with long hair and a

golden cross halo. He is nude and He stands over a whirlpool of water that symbolizes

the Jordan River. The scene is identified with one inscription, hic baptizat iohes ihm (here

John baptizes Christ), which is located over the head of John the Baptist. According to



24 Gertrud Schiller, Iconography of Christian2 Art: Pa~ssion of Jesus Christ, trans. Janet
Seligman, vol. 2 Connecticut: NY Graphic Society, LTD, 1972, p. 127.