1458
tempera
panel
From the collection of Art Institute of Chicago
The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist is a 1458 tempera by Giovanni di Paolo, a Early Renaissance work, held at Art Institute of Chicago.
A man’s head rolls onto a golden plate while blood pours from his neck. The executioner slides his sword back into its sheath like he’s done this before. Other figures stand around, calm and still. Giovanni di Paolo painted this scene as part of a series about John the Baptist’s life. The violence feels almost quiet—no one looks shocked, not even the servant holding the plate. The bright colors and flat shapes make it feel like a storybook, not real life. If you like how this looks, check out more works in tempera.
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…
Edourd Aynard, Lyons, by 1907 [see Perkins 1907]; sold Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, December 1–4, 1913 no. 51, to Kleinberger, Paris, as agent for Martin A. Ryerson (died 1932), Chicago, 1914 [an entry for June 18, 1914, in Ryerson’s notebook reads: “Bot [sic] of Kleinberter, Paris, 6 panels by Giovanni di Paolo (purchased by him at Aynard sale for 160 000 fr + 10%);” Art Institute Archives]; on loan to the Art Institute from 1914; bequeathed to the Art Institute, 1933.
New York, F. Kleinberger Galleries, Italian Primitives, 1917, no. 58. New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Loan Exhibition of the Arts of the Italian Renaissance, May 7–September 9, 1923, no. 16. London, Royal Academy of Arts, Exhibition of Italian Art, 1200–1900, January–March, 1930, no. 931. Art Institute of Chicago, A Century of Progress, June 1–November 1, 1933, no. 85e. Art Institute of Chicago, A Century of Progress, June 1–November 1, 1934, no. 29e. Art Institute of Chicago, The Children’s Museum, Explanatory Exhibition of the Panels Showing Scenes from the Life of St. John the…
Read the full account in the museum source.
Giovanni di Paolo di Grazia was an Italian painter, working primarily in Siena, becoming a prolific painter and illustrator of manuscripts, including Dante's texts.
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