Death of the Baptist (세례요한의 죽음)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jacob van Oostsanen 1470 – 1533

Salome with the Baptist's Head

oil on panel (72 × 54 cm) — 1524

  Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Jacob van Oostsanen biography

 

This work is linked to Matthew 14:9

(마 14:9)

왕이 근심하나 자기가 맹세한 것과 그 함께 2)앉은 사람들 때문에 주라 명하고 헬, 기대어 누우려니와(유대인이 음식 먹을 때에 가지는 자세)

 

Excited by her dancing at his banquet, king Herod lets Salome make a wish. Her mother suggests to ask for the head of John the Baptist. The prophet had denounced her mother's adultery with the king.

Jacob van Oostsanen opposes the cruelty of the Baptist's head to Salome's beauty and the tranquillity of the landscape in the background

 

 

 

 

 

Peter Paul Rubens 1577 – 1640

The Feast of Herod

oil on canvas (208 × 264 cm) — c. 1635-38

  National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh

Peter Paul Rubens biography

 

This work is linked to Mark 6:21

(막 6:21)

마침 기회가 좋은 날이 왔으니 곧 헤롯이 자기 생일에 대신들과 천부장들과 갈릴리의 귀인들로 더불어 잔치할새

 

At first glance this seems to be a happy gathering. Closer inspection shows a horrible scene.

On his birthday Herod Antipas told his stepdaughter she could have anything she wanted. She asked for the head of John the Baptist, who happened to be downstairs in the dungeons for criticizing Herod's marriage to Herodias. The stepdaughter gets her way. Here she presents the head to Herod. Herodias takes a fork and prods John's tongue with it. Herod moves back in horror.

Rubens probably made this painting in commission of Gaspar de Roomer, a Flemish merchant based in Naples.

 

 

 

 

 

Hans Memling ca. 1433 – 1494

Salome with the Head of the Baptist

oil on panel (176 × 79 cm) — 1479

Memling Museum, St.John's Hospital, Bruges

Hans Memling biography

 

This work is linked to Mark 6:27

(막 6:27)

왕이 곧 시위병 하나를 보내어 요한의 머리를 가져오라 명하니 그 사람이 나가 옥에서 요한을 목 베어

 

Salomé's wish comes true: she receives the head of John the Baptist. In the background to the left the preceding episode can be seen. At a banquet, Herod asks his stepdaughter to make a wish. She asks for the Baptist's head, out of revenge for him criticizing the marriage of Herod and Salomé's mother Herodias.

The panel is the left wing of a triptych that served as an altarpiece: the "altar of John the Baptist and John the Evangelist". It was made for St. John's Hospital in Bruges, where it remains.

The right wing shows St John on Pathmos.

 

 

 

 

 

Juan de Flandes ca. 1465 – 1519

Herodias' Revenge

oil on panel (75 × 50 cm) — 1496

Museum Mayer van den Bergh, Antwerp

Juan de Flandes biography

 

This work is linked to Matthew 14:11

(마 14:11)

그 머리를 소반에 얹어서 그 소녀에게 주니 그가 자기 어머니에게로 가져가니라

 

Please scroll down to read more information about this work.

 

At a party Herod promises the daughter of his new wife that she can have whatever she desires. Her mother Herodias tells her to demand the head of John the Baptist, the man who heavily criticized her marriage to Herod and who happened to be in the palace jail. Reluctantly Herod orders the beheading of John.

Here the daughter shows the head to Herod and Herodias. Herodias holds a knife, perhaps ready to cut John's tongue.

The tongue nor the name of the daughter are mentioned in the Bible. Other sources suggest the daughter's name was Salome.

This oak panel was part of an altarpiece devoted to the life of St. John. The remainders of the polyptych are scattered over several museums. Juan de Flandes painted it in commission for the Spanish queen Isabella. It was meant for the convent of Miraflores, near Burgos. In 1809 a French general in Napoleon's army took it to France. The Belgian collector Fritz Mayer van den Bergh bought it in 1899. At the time it was attributed to Lucas van Leyden.

 

 

 

 

 

Domenico Ghirlandaio 1449 – 1494

Herod's Banquet

fresco — 1486-1490

Santa Maria Novella, Florence

 

This work is linked to Mark 6:21

(막 6:21)

마침 기회가 좋은 날이 왔으니 곧 헤롯이 자기 생일에 대신들과 천부장들과 갈릴리의 귀인들로 더불어 잔치할새

 

Herod gives a party and tells his stepdaughter Salome she can have whatever she wants. Her mother Herodias tells her to ask for the head of John the Baptist, who had been arrested by Herod. John had complained about Herod's marriage to Herodias, which he considered to be adulterous.

Ghirlandaio shows a dancing Salome when John's head is presented.

This fresco is part of the series Ghirlandaio made in the Tornabuoni family chapel in the church of Santa Maria Novella in Florence. All works in this series are about the life of John the Baptist.

• The Angel appears to Zacharias
• The visitation
• Birth of the Baptist
• Zacharias writes John's Name
• The Preaching of the Baptist
• John Baptises Jesus
• Herod's Banquet

 

 

 

 

Caravaggio 1573 – 1610

The Beheading of St John the Baptist

oil on canvas (361 × 520 cm) — 1607-1608

Museum of St. John, La Valletta

Caravaggio biography

 

This work is linked to Mark 6:27

(막 6:27)

왕이 곧 시위병 하나를 보내어 요한의 머리를 가져오라 명하니 그 사람이 나가 옥에서 요한을 목 베어

 

Caravaggio painted this altarpiece while on the island of Malta. It was created for the St John's Cathedral in the capital Valletta.

Salome had ordered the Baptist's head, and in a few moments, she will receive it from the executioner. Her maid looks on in awe. The jailer tells the executioner to put the head on the charger. Two prisoners watch the scene.

The group on the left forms an arch, with Salome and the executioner bending to the floor. This is the only painting Caravaggio signed - in the blood of the Baptist.

 

 

 

 

Caravaggio 1573 – 1610

Salome with the Baptist's Head

oil on canvas (91 × 167 cm) — ca. 1609/10

National Gallery, London

Caravaggio biography

 

This work is linked to Matthew 14:9

(마 14:9)

왕이 근심하나 자기가 맹세한 것과 그 함께 2)앉은 사람들 때문에 주라 명하고 헬, 기대어 누우려니와(유대인이 음식 먹을 때에 가지는 자세)

 

Salomé holds the platter upon which the headsman is placing John the Baptist's head. A maid, or maybe Salomé's mother, looks on.