What is the name of Leonardo's painting of St. John the Baptist?

Leonardo’s painting of St. John the Baptist is titled Saint John the Baptist. It is a High Renaissance oil painting on walnut wood and is generally dated to about 1513–1516, near the end of Leonardo’s career.

The painting presents John alone against an almost completely dark background. He wears animal skins, has long curly hair, and raises his right hand toward heaven while holding a slender reed cross in his left. Leonardo used intense chiaroscuro and soft sfumato transitions so that the saint seems to emerge gradually from shadow.

The enigmatic smile and androgynous appearance have prompted extensive art-historical discussion. Leonardo’s model may have been Salaì, his longtime apprentice and companion, who appears to have inspired several idealized youthful figures in the artist’s late work. The painting is often considered Leonardo’s final completed painting, although its exact dating remains debated.

The work is now in the Louvre in Paris. It is sometimes confused with Leonardo’s unfinished Saint Jerome or with his Virgin of the Rocks, but those are different compositions. The title also refers to John the Baptist, not John the Evangelist, another biblical figure frequently depicted in Renaissance art.