Provenance: Auction, Malerisalen, Studenterforeningen, 1917 no. 10 (here sold as 'John the Baptist'). The painter Peder Mønsted (1859–1941). His estate auction, Winkel & Magnussen auction 281, 1941 no. 394 (here sold as 'John the Baptist').

The above-mentioned auctions both identify the figure in the present study as John the Baptist. However, the study does not contain any direct references to Bloch's portrayal of John the Baptist in 'The Baptism of Christ' (1870) in The King's Oratory in the chapel at Frederiksborg Castle in Hillerød. Carl Bloch reserved the luminous halo for his Christ figures and most wear, as here, a reddish suit/cloak. The study has points of similarity with 'The Resurrection of Christ' (1877) in St. Jacob's Church in Copenhagen and 'The Resurrection' (1873) in The King's Oratory , but also with 'The Last Supper' (1876) from the same place. They all portray a related Christ with halo and an upward gaze. The present study has certainly served as a tronie for one or more of these representations of Christ.

The model was undoubtedly Carl Bloch's wife Alma Bloch, née Trepka (1842–1886). The characteristic oval face, the strong bridge of the nose, the marked cleft in the chin and a striking portrait likeness illustrate here for the first time that Bloch used his wife as a model for his depictions of Christ. The following quotes following Carl Bloch's death in 1890 emphasize this. In a series of commemorative articles published in the journal 'Aaret Rundt' the same year, the author Nikolaj Bøgh (1845–1905) writes (in Danish): “... her beauty so great that it coincided with his artistic ideal, so that in all his holy pictures he could paint her, sometimes as the angel, sometimes as Christ himself - you recognize her face everywhere in these pictures.” (Nikolaj Bøgh, in Aaret Rundt, 1890, p. 248). The famous Danish critic and writer Georg Brandes (1842–1927) knew Alma Bloch from her youth and portrayed her years later in his memoirs (in Danish): “Alma Trepka was queenly, her movements slow, her being clear and calm - Carl Bloch could develop from her face a Mary type, even a Christ type without significantly changing the oval of the facial lines...” (Georg Brandes, Levned I, 1905, p. 231).

The present study is the missing link between the above quotations and Bloch's artistic use of Alma as a model for his Christ figures.

Bruun Rasmussen would like to thank art dealer Peter Titelbech for the above text and research about the connection between Bloch's depictions of Christ and Alma Bloch.