Andrea del Sarto, Saint John the Baptist, c. 1528, Pitti Palace, Florence
With circular thoughts it is hard to not equate reality and dream or consciousness and the unconscious or the rational and irrational with God the infinite and finite beings. Some feel the presence or death in forests or where you would find spirits of goddesses others think they live in the walls of houses. This equation with nature seems quite prevalent in Italian thinking, even today. One feels like talking about a tree would be the same as talking about God. You feel nature in Italian art as well. For example, Saint John the Baptist's fleece, although highly refined, we are still reminded of the smell of the earth and the rest of the flock. In talking about religious subjects there is the idea of the garden being synonymous with God.
John Everett Millais, Christ in the House of His Parents
(The Carpenter's Shop), c. 1849, Tate Britain, London
