The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist

Blood spills from Saint John the Baptist’s freshly severed neck as a henchman places his head on a golden platter. Sienese painter Giovanni di Paolo illustrated the life of John the Baptist in a twelve-part series; this panel depicts the moments just after John’s beheading, ordered by King Herod at the request of his daughter, Salome. The gruesome details contrast with the other figures’ placid expressions and the executioner’s casual pose as he returns his sword to its scabbard. The building itself, with its strict geometry, is likewise at odds with the rivulets of blood that pour over the patterned street.

Other panels in the series include scenes of John’s birth, his departure for a hermit’s life in the wilderness, his prophecy of Christ’s coming, performing Jesus’s baptism, and his imprisonment. The complex, detailed settings exploit the narrow proportions of the panels and set off the figures’ expressive poses. Throughout the series, the artist repeated background elements, colors, and patterns to create a unified, easily legible narrative. Assembled in three rows, the original ensemble probably served as doors for a shrine containing a sacred relic (probably a body part) associated with John the Baptist. Of the eleven panels that survive, six are at the Art Institute.