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Your galleryThe Head of Saint John the Baptist Brought before Herod
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Find the head twice, on its way in at the right and set down before the diners, then look for Salome in black standing between them.
The last of the Art Institute of Chicago’s six scenes returns to Herod’s banquet hall. A soldier in gold armor appears twice, carrying the head in at the right and kneeling to set it before the table, where the guests cover their faces. The museum notes that Giovanni di Paolo painted figures more than once to show them moving through a scene.
Tempera on panel · 68.5 × 40.2 cm · Art Institute of Chicago · Renaissance · Late Gothic and Early Renaissance
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Details and source
- Museum title
- The Head of Saint John the Baptist Brought before Herod
- Artist
- Giovanni di Paolo (Italian, 1398–1482)
- Date
- 1455–60
- Medium
- Tempera on panel
- Dimensions
- 68.5 × 40.2 cm (27 × 15 13/16 in.); Framed: 79.4 × 52.1 × 8.9 cm (31 1/4 × 20 1/2 × 3 1/2 in.)
- Credit line
- Mr. and Mrs. Martin A. Ryerson Collection
- Image license
- CC0 1.0 · Public domain
- Museum record
- Art Institute of Chicago
Galler’s rooms and hanging scale are imagined. The image is the museum’s original digital reproduction.