The beautiful painting Baptism of Christ we are describing here is significant because it enriches the catalog of his small production, while allowing us to also appreciate his qualities as a landscape-painter. The theme required placing the figures outdoors, but the artist had opted for a rectangular canvas with horizontal development, precisely to have room for a good landscape background, with two tree clumps on the sides leaving a clearing in the center, behind Jesus and his cousin John, where we can appreciate a city between valleys and mountains, and a brief cloudscape with a burst of glory through which the Holy Spirit descends. Although the treatment is conventional, the lush foliage of the trees contributes to framing the scene and giving it some depth. Nicolás had already shown his taste and love for nature in the delightful background that embellishes the aforementioned painting Desposorios místicos de Santa Rosa de Lima, but we think this sensitivity towards nature somehow must have influenced the work of his uncle Juan, who more than other painters of that time had shown a peculiar predilection for including landscapes in his scenes. John is standing on the banks of the Jordan River, here reduced to a meandering stream coming from the background, inside which is Jesus, torso bent and arms crossed on his chest.

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