 Art historians hold that the figure is the Apostle John, who only appears feminine due to Leonardo's characteristic fascination with blurring the lines between the sexes, a quality which is found in his other paintings, such as "St. John the Baptist" (painted 1513–1516).Christopher L. Hodapp and Alice Von Kannon comment "If he [John] looks effeminate and needs a haircut, so does James, the second figure on the left.