The Arrest of Saint John the Baptist

The Arrest of Saint John the Baptist by the Master of Miraflores continues the Baptist cycle with John's imprisonment by Herod's soldiers, the consequence of his denunciation of Herod's illegal marriage to Herodias. This narrative moment — the beginning of John's imprisonment and eventual martyrdom — was treated as a prefiguration of Christ's own arrest and Passion. The master's ability to render the drama of the arrest, the confrontation between prophetic truth and political power, within the Hispano-Flemish pictorial tradition makes this a significant panel in the Baptist cycle at the Prado.

Soldiers seize John the Baptist, whose robe and staff identify him as prophet and ascetic. The master renders the physical confrontation with Flemish attention to varied figure types and expressions. Architecture or landscape provides the setting for the arrest scene.