Object Image

The Head of Saint John the Baptist

Salome's mother Herodias persuaded her to ask King Herod for the head of John the Baptist as a reward for her dancing (Matthew 14: 1-12). Herodias held a grudge against the Baptist for saying that her marriage to Herod was unlawful. The saint was beheaded and his head was then presented to Salome on a charger. There is some evidence that Leonardo painted a 'Head of Saint John the Baptist on a Charger' during his years in Milan, and there are many early sixteenth-century Milanese pictures of the subject which, like this one, may have been closely derived from Leonardo.

The painting is inscribed in gold letters: MDXI / II.K[A]L.FEB. This translates as '1511, two days before the Kalends of Februa...

1511
Oil on walnut
45.7 x 38.7cm
NG1438
Image and text © The National Gallery, London, 2024

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