The Head of Saint John the Baptist Brought before Herod
Giovanni di Paolo·1455–60
Historical Context
The Head of Saint John the Baptist Brought before Herod (1455–60) concludes the Baptist narrative cycle with grim directness. The severed head on a platter is presented to Herod at table, witnessed by his court in a scene that conveys both the horror of martyrdom and its ritual dignity. Giovanni di Paolo's narrative cycles were intended to be read as a sequence, and the final panel's matter-of-fact depiction of the saint's death completes a moral journey from prophetic mission through imprisonment to martyrdom. The cycle represents one of the most complete surviving Baptist narrative series in Italian panel painting from the quattrocento.
Technical Analysis
The scene is rendered with Giovanni di Paolo's precise tempera technique, with rich colors and gold ground creating a decorative surface. The composition uses clear spatial divisions to separate the principal actors, with expressive gestures and faces conveying the drama of the narrative moment.
Provenance
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.
