Beheading of John the Baptist  

From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia

Current revision

Salome, c. 1530 - Cranach, Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest

Related e

Wikipedia Wiktionary Shop Featured: Rhombicuboctahedron by Leonardo da Vinci

beheading, art horror

The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist (alternate names: Decollation of Saint John the Baptist and Beheading of the Forerunner) is a holy day observed by various Christian churches which follow liturgical traditions. The day commemorates the biblical event recounting the martyrdom of Saint John the Baptist.

Accounts

The biblical account portrays the beheading of Saint John the Baptist by Herod Antipas. According to the Synoptic Gospels, Herod had imprisoned John because he reproved Herod for divorcing his wife (Phasaelis), and unlawfully taking Herodias, the wife of his brother Herod Philip I. On Herod's birthday, Herodias' daughter (traditionally named Salome) danced before the king and his guests. Her dancing pleased Herod so much that in his drunkenness he promised to give her anything she desired, up to half of his kingdom. When the daughter asked her mother what she should request, she was told to ask for the head of John the Baptist on a platter. Although Herod was appalled by the request, he reluctantly agreed and had John executed in the prison.

The Jewish historian Flavius Josephus also relates in his Antiquities of the Jews that Herod killed John, stating that he did so, "lest the great influence John had over the people might put it into his [John's] power and inclination to raise a rebellion, (for they seemed ready to do any thing he should advise), [so Herod] thought it best [to put] him to death." He further states that many of the Jews believed that the military disaster which fell upon Herod at the hands of Aretas his father-in-law (Phasaelis' father), was God's punishment for his unrighteous behavior.

Depictions of the Salome - Herod - St. John the Baptist Bible story

Scenes from the events around the death of John were an extremely common subject in the treatment of John the Baptist in art, initially most often in small predella scenes, later as a subject for larger independent works. The following list does not attempt completeness, but includes many of the best known depictions in chronological order (to see each work, follow the link through the footnote):

• Herod's Feast, Daurade Monastery, c 1100, Musée des Augustins, Toulouse.
• Death of John the Baptist, Gilabertus, Saint-Etienne Cathedral, 1120-1140, Musee des Augustins, Toulouse
• Feast of Herod, Giotto di Bondone, 1320
• Entombment of the Baptist, Andrea Pisano, 1330
• St. John the Evangelist and Stories from His Life, Giovanni del Biondo, 1360-70
• Feast of Herod, Aretino Spinello, 1385
• The Banquet of Herod, Lorenzo Monaco, c. 1400
• The Beheading of St. John the Baptist, Masaccio, 1426
• Herod's Banquet, Donatello, 1427
• Banquet of Herod, Masolino da Panicale, 1435
• Herod's Banquet, Fra Filippo Lippi, 1452-65
• The Head of John the Baptist Brought to Herod, Giovanni di Paolo, 1454, National Gallery, London
• The Feast of Herod and the Beheading of Saint John the Baptist, Benozzo Gozzoli, 1461-62, National Gallery of Art
• Head of the Baptist, Giovanni Bellini, 1464-68
• The Beheading of St. John the Baptist, Lieven van Lathem, 1469, The J. Paul Getty Museum
• Herod's Feast, Heydon, Norfolk, c. 1470, wall painting in an English parish church
• St. John Altarpiece, Hans Memling, 1474-79
• Beheading of John the Baptist, Andrea del Verrocchio, 1477-80
• Salome with the Head of St. John the Baptist, Sandro Botticelli, 1488, Uffizi, Florence
• Salome with the Head of John the Baptist, Cornelis Engelbrechtsz, c. 1490, J. Paul Getty Museum
• The Head of St. John the Baptist, with Mourning Angels and Putti, Jan Mostaert, early 16th century, National Gallery, London
• St. John Altarpiece (left wing), Quentin Massys, 1507-08
• The Beheading of St. John, Albrecht Dürer, 1510, Christian Theological Seminary, Indianapolis
• The Daughter of Herodias, Sebastiano del Piombo, 1510, National Gallery, London
• Salome, Tilman Riemenschneider, 1500-1510
• Salome, Casare da Sesta, 1510-20, National Gallery, London
• Salome, Giampietrino, c. 1510-30, National Gallery, London
• The Head of St. John the Baptist Brought to Herod, Albrecht Dürer, 1511
• Salome, Alonso Berruguete, 1512-16, Uffizi Gallery,Florence
• Salome with the Head of John the Baptist, Titian, c. 1515
• Head of John the Baptist, Hans Baldung Grien, 1516, National Gallery of Art
• Salome with the Head of John the Baptist, Jacob Cornelisz van Oostsanen, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
• Herodias, Bernardino Luini, 1527-31
• Salome with the head of St John the Baptist, Tiziano Vecellio (Titian), c. 1530, Galleria Doria Pamphilj, Rome
• Salome, Lucas Cranach the Elder, c. 1530
• Beheading of John the Baptist, Vincenzo Danti, 1569-70
• Salome with the Head of the Baptist, Caravaggio, 1605
• The Beheading of the Baptist, Caravaggio, 1608 (see inset)
• Salome, Giovanni Battista Caracciolo, 1615-20
• The Feast of Herod, Franz Francken II, c. 1620, State Hermitage Museum
• Herodias with the Head of St. John the Baptist, Francesco del Cairo, c. 1625-30
• The Beheading of John the Baptist, Matthaeus Merrian the Elder, 1625-30
• Decapitation of St. John, Unknown British, 17th century, Tate Gallery
• Salome Dancing before Herod, Jacob Hogers, c. 1630-55, Rijksmuseum
• Salome Presented with the Head of St. John the Baptist, Leonaert Bramer, 1630s
• The Beheading of St. John the Baptist, Massimo Stanzione, c. 1634
• Salome with the Head of John the Baptist, Guido Reni, 1639-40
• The Beheading of John the Baptist, Rembrandt, 1640, The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
• The Beheading of John the Baptist, Rombout van Troyen, 1650s, State Hermitage Museum
• St John Reproaching Herod, Mattia Preti, 1662-66
• St John the Baptist Before Herod, Mattia Preti, 1665
• Decapitation of St John, British School, 17th century. Tate Gallery
• John the Baptist Beheaded, Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, 1851-60, World Mission Collection
• The Daughter of Herodias Receiving the Head of John the Baptist, Gustave Doré, 1865
• Head of St. John the Baptist, Jean-Baptiste Chatigny, 1869, The J. Paul Getty Museum
• The Beheading of John the Baptist, Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, c. 1869 National Gallery, London
• Salome, Henri Regnault, 1870, Metropolitan Museum of Art
• Gustave Moreau:
  • Salome Dancing before Herod, 1874-76
  • The Apparition, 1874-76
  • Salome, 1876
• James Tissot, 1886-96:
  • The Daughter of Herodias Dancing
  • King Herod
  • The Head of John the Baptist on a Platter
• Salome, Franz von Stuck, 1906
• Salome, Nikolai Astrup