Many Slovenian customs and traditions that are still known today have pagan roots and a Christian disguise. Christian saints have often been attributed the qualities of mythical beings and deities, and the same was true of John the Baptist. Born exactly half a year before Christ, he is famous for his phrase "He (Christ) must increase, but I must decrease". Because of this, and especially because of the similarity of the name, the Church used John the Baptist to disguise the slavic pagan god Kresnik. He is a sun deity, a mythical being associated with fire, light and fertility, the dragon-fighter who protects his kingdom from the serpent-queen.

Every transition to a new era has always been fraught with anxiety - and what is more dramatic than the realisation that the sun is dying? At the time of the solstice, many pagan legends and superstitions of miraculous events came to life again and again. Fairies and elves were resurrected, fire, water and vegetation were full of magical powers. These were old beliefs covered up by Christian faith.

Reverse glass painting is a well-known technique from antiquity. In Slovenia, such paintings were part of house decorations in noble and bourgeois dwellings in the 18th century. From the 19th century on they were also common on farms throughout the territory of present-day Slovenia.

This painting is from the first half of the 19th century and shows John the Baptist with a cross in his left hand and his right hand raised.