Beheading of Saint John the Baptist

Juan de Flandes painted this Beheading of Saint John the Baptist around 1496 as part of the extensive retablo commission for the Catholic Monarchs of Spain. Having arrived from the Netherlands to serve Isabella of Castile, Juan de Flandes applied his refined Bruges technique to the small-format devotional panels favored by the Spanish queen. The Baptist's martyrdom was a standard subject in the extensive cycle of scenes from Christ's life and the lives of the saints.

Oil on small panel with the exquisite miniaturist technique characteristic of Juan de Flandes's work for Isabella. The scene is rendered with Netherlandish precision at an intimate, contemplative scale.