13 Paintings, RELIGIOUS ART - Interpretations of the Bible! by The Old Masters, With Footnotes # 56

Vincent van Gogh, (1853 - 1890)

Pietà (after Delacroix), c. September 1889 

Oil on canvas

73 cm x 60.5 cm 

Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)

Van Gogh based his Pietà on a lithograph of a painting by Eugène Delacroix (below). In fact, it is more a variation on the original work than a copy. From Delacroix, Van Gogh took the theme of the Virgin Mary mourning the dead Christ, as well as the composition. He added his own colour and personal signature.

The painting resulted from an accident. Van Gogh wrote, 'that lithograph of Delacroix, the Pietà, with other sheets had fallen into some oil and paint and got spoiled. I was sad about it – then in the meantime I occupied myself painting it, and you'll see it one day.' The lithograph has survived, complete with stain. More on this work

The Pietà is a subject in Christian art depicting the Virgin Mary cradling the dead body of Jesus, most often found in sculpture. As such, it is a particular form of the Lamentation of Christ, a scene from the Passion of Christ found in cycles of the Life of Christ. When Christ and the Virgin are surrounded by other figures from the New Testament, the subject is strictly called a Lamentation in English, although Pietà is often used for this as well, and is the normal term in Italian. More the Pietà

Vincent van Gogh (born March 30, 1853, Zundert, Neth.—died July 29, 1890, Auvers-sur-Oise, near Paris, France). Dutch painter, generally considered the greatest after Rembrandt, and one of the greatest of the Post-Impressionists. The striking colour, emphatic brushwork, and contoured forms of his work powerfully influenced the current of Expressionism in modern art. Van Gogh’s art became astoundingly popular after his death, especially in the late 20th century, when his work sold for record-breaking sums at auctions around the world and was featured in blockbuster touring exhibitions. In part because of his extensive published letters, van Gogh has also been mythologized in the popular imagination as the quintessential tortured artist. More on Vincent van Gogh

Eugène Delacroix, 1798 – 1863

Pietà, c. 1850

Oil on canvas

35 × 27 cm

Museum National Museum, Oslo

Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix (26 April 1798 – 13 August 1863) was a French Romantic artist regarded from the outset of his career as the leader of the French Romantic school.

As a painter and muralist, Delacroix's use of expressive brushstrokes and his study of the optical effects of colour profoundly shaped the work of the Impressionists, while his passion for the exotic inspired the artists of the Symbolist movement. A fine lithographer, Delacroix illustrated various works of William Shakespeare, the Scottish author Walter Scott and the German author Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

Delacroix took for his inspiration the art of Rubens and painters of the Venetian Renaissance, with an attendant emphasis on colour and movement rather than clarity of outline and carefully modelled form. Dramatic and romantic content characterized the central themes of his maturity, and led him not to the classical models of Greek and Roman art, but to travel in North Africa, in search of the exotic. Friend and spiritual heir to Théodore Géricault, Delacroix was also inspired by Lord Byron, with whom he shared a strong identification with the "forces of the sublime", of nature in often violent action.

However, Delacroix was given to neither sentimentality nor bombast, and his Romanticism was that of an individualist. In the words of Baudelaire, "Delacroix was passionately in love with passion, but coldly determined to express passion as clearly as possible." MoreFerdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix

Sir Peter Paul Rubens, Flemish (1577 - 1640)

The Feast of Herod, c. 1635 - 1638

Oil on canvas

 208.3 x 271.5 x 5 cm

National Galleries of Scotland

Herodias’ daughter, Salome, had danced so beautifully that Herod had promised to grant her any wish. Prompted by Herodias, Salome asked for the head of John the Baptist. This was Herodias’ revenge for the Baptist’s outspoken criticism of her marriage to Herod. Here Salome presents Saint John the Baptist’s head to King Herod. Herod shrinks back in horror. To his left, Herodias prods the Baptist’s tongue with a fork. Rubens conveys the dramatic moment through the actions and expressions of his larger than life size figures, his rich colours and bold contrasts of light and shadow. The picture was probably painted for Gaspar de Roomer, a Flemish merchant based in Naples, and inspired a number of Italian artists. More on this painting

Sir Peter Paul Rubens (28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish Baroque painter. A proponent of an extravagant Baroque style that emphasized movement, colour, and sensuality, Rubens is well known for his Counter-Reformation altarpieces, portraits, landscapes, and history paintings of mythological and allegorical subjects.

In addition to running a large studio in Antwerp that produced paintings popular with nobility and art collectors throughout Europe, Rubens was a classically educated humanist scholar and diplomat who was knighted by both Philip IV of Spain and Charles I of England.  More Sir Peter Paul Rubens

Paul Delaroche, (1797-1856)

THE GUILLOTINE 

Oil on canvas

41 x 63 1/2 in., 46 x 78 1/2 in

Private Collection

The scene depicted here is the 1794 guillotine deaths of the Martyrs of Compiegne, the sixteen Carmelite nuns who were sentenced to death during the Reign of Terror. During the anti-clericalism of the French Revolution, the nuns refused to obey the mandate that suppressed their monastery. They were arrested, imprisoned and brought to Paris where they were condemned as traitors and sentenced to death. On July 17, 1794, this group of sixteen nuns were guillotined. The novice, Sister Constance, was the first to die, followed by the lay sisters and ending with the prioress, Mother Teresa of St. Augustine. More on this painting

Paul Delaroche (Paris, 17 July 1797 – 4 November 1856) was a French painter. He became famous in Europe for his melodramatic scenes that often portrayed subjects from English and French history. The emotions emphasised in Delaroche's paintings appeal to Romanticism while the detail of his work along with the deglorified portrayal of historic figures follow the trends of Academicism and Neoclassicism. Delaroche aimed to depict his subjects and history with pragmatic realism. 

Delaroche was born into a generation that saw the stylistic conflicts between Romanticism and Davidian Classicism. Davidian Classicism was widely accepted and enjoyed by society so as a developing artist at the time of the introduction of Romanticism in Paris, Delaroche found his place between the two movements. Later in the 1830s, Delaroche exhibited the first of his major religious works. His change of subject and “the painting’s austere manner” were ill-received by critics and after 1837, he stopped exhibiting his work altogether. At the time of his death in 1856, he was painting a series of four scenes from the Life of the Virgin. Only one work from this series was completed: the Virgin Contemplating the Crown of Thorns. More on Paul Delaroche 

Bernardino di Betto, known as Pinturicchio (Perugia c. 1454 - 1513 Siena)

Madonna

Fragment of the destroyed divine investiture of Alexander VI, c. 1492-1493

wall painting by the seventeenth-century frame, 39.5 cm x 28, 5 x 5

Private collection

For centuries, Renaissance artist Pintoricchio was practically accused of blasphemy by those who contended he used Pope Alexander VI’s young lover, Giulia Farnese, as the model for the Madonna in a wall painting that decorated the pontiff’s private apartment. The painting depicts a Virgin blessing with Child, and at their feet an adoring Pope. 

The painting provoked so much scandal that Pope Alexander VII ordered the fresco removed, more than five decades after he succeeded the previous Alexander. The painting was ripped out and over time, its remaining fragments were thought to have been lost forever. But it turned out some of the original did survive; and over the years were collected, Like key pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.

The portrait of infant Jesus and the Madonna is all that survived.

Bernardino di Betto, known as Pinturicchio (Perugia c. 1454 - 1513 Siena)

Baby Jesus of the Hands

Fragment of the destroyed divine investiture of Alexander VI, c. 1492-1493

Giulia Farnese (1474 – 23 March 1524) was mistress to Pope Alexander VI, and the sister of Pope Paul III.

On 21 May 1489, she married Orsino Orsini. It is uncertain when Rodrigo Borgia (Pope Alexander VI) fell in love with Giulia and decided to make her his mistress. What is known is that Adriana de Mila eventually gave her approval to Rodrigo Borgia and Giulia Farnese's relationship in order to win a higher status for her son within the Vatican. By November 1493, Giulia was living with Adriana de Mila and the Pope's daughter Lucrezia Borgia in a recently built palace next to the Vatican from where the Pope could easily make his clandestine visits. The affair was widely rumored among gossips of the time.

Writers like Michael de la Bedoyere dispute her alleged status as mistress.

Through her intimacy with the Pope, Giulia was able to get her brother Alessandro (the future Paul III) created Cardinal in 1493.

Giulia had a daughter whom she named Laura. It is not clear whether Laura's father was Orsino or Alexander. Maria Bellonci believes that there is evidence that she did have a physical relationship with her husband. Whatever the case may be, Giulia claimed that Laura was indeed the Pope's daughter, but this may have been to raise the status of the child for future marriage considerations.

 In 1494, she angered the Pope by setting off to Capodimonte to be at the deathbed of her brother Angelo. She remained away from Rome, even after her brother's death, at the insistence of her husband. He eventually capitulated. This occurred at the same time as the French invasion of Italy under Charles VIII. Giulia was captured by the French, who demanded from the Pope, and received, a ransom of 3,000 scudi for her safe conduct to Rome.

Giulia remained close to the Pope until 1499 or 1500. 

She married Giovanni Capece of Bozzuto. He was a member of the lower ranking Neapolitan nobility. In 1506, Giulia became the governor of Carbognano. Giulia took up residence in the citadel of the castle. She stayed in Carbognano until 1522; she then returned to Rome.

She died there. She was 50 years old. The cause of her death is unknown. Ten years later her brother ascended the papal throne as Pope Paul III. Laura and Niccolò had three sons, who inherited the possessions of the Orsini family. More on Giulia Farnese

Pintoricchio or Pinturicchio, whose formal name was Bernardino di Betto, also known as Benetto di Biagio or Sordicchio, c.1454–1513, Umbrian painter whose real name was Bernardino di Betto. A prolific and facile painter, he was influenced by Perugino, with whom he collaborated on the frescoes for the Sistine Chapel. Pinturicchio worked chiefly in Perugia, Rome, and Siena. He decorated the Borgia apartments in the Vatican and several churches in Rome. His most elaborate project was the decoration of the cathedral library in Siena. In the Metropolitan Museum are many panels of mythological scenes from the ceiling of the reception room in the Palazzo del Magnifico in Siena. More on Pinturicchio

The exact composition of the painting, however, did not disappear thanks to a copy made in 1612 by the painter Pietro Fachetti (below). More on the composition

Pietro Fachetti, 1539 - 1613

Virgin blessing with Child

The face of the Madonna by Pintoricchio, reconstructed, allows us to partially a work of great iconography significance and obvious theological significance. A rare papal iconography, representing the divine investiture of the newly elected Pontiff, permanently sweeps the field by much more "worldly" interpretations that caused the destruction, but persisting in memory.

Pietro Facchetti (1539 – 27 February 1613) was an Italian painter of the late-Renaissance, mainly active in Rome.

Born to a poor family in Mantua. Facchetti initially trained with Lorenzo Costa the younger, but then moved to Rome and joined the studio of Scipione da Gaeta, where he gained fame as a portrait painter. More on Pietro Facchetti

Thanks to Capitoline Museums,  ITALY EUROPE 24, and LiveAuctioneers for this story

Matteo Loves, (1625 to 1647)

Judith with the Head of Holofernes., Circa 1620-1630.

Oil on canvas

35 ¼ x 41 5/16 in. (89.5 x 105 cm)

In the canvas before us, this bloody Biblical episode provides an occasion for the representation of the affetti, both refined and harsh. Between the end of the 1500s and the beginning of the century that followed, art in the Christian West saw the spread of an iconography that treated subjects from the Old Testament or Classical mythology as vehicles for portraits and the depiction of sentiment. A general example of this practice can be found in the famous painting by Cristofano Allori (below) in which the woman he loved plays the part of Judith, while the features of the beheaded Holofernes are a self-portrait of the artist. More on this canvas

The Book of Judith is the Old Testament of the Bible. The story revolves around Judith, a daring and beautiful widow, who is upset with her Jewish countrymen for not trusting God to deliver them from their foreign conquerors. She goes with her loyal maid to the camp of the enemy general, Holofernes, with whom she slowly ingratiates herself, promising him information on the Israelites. Gaining his trust, she is allowed access to his tent one night as he lies in a drunken stupor. She decapitates him, then takes his head back to her fearful countrymen. The Assyrians, having lost their leader, disperse, and Israel is saved. Though she is courted by many, Judith remains unmarried for the rest of her life. More on The Book of Judith

Matteo Loves (Italian, active 1625-circa 1645) was a painter active in Cento from about 1625 to 1662. Few biographical details are know. It is said he was born in Cologne to an English family, and arrived as a young man in Cento, where he trained with Guercino. Works by Loves can be found in the Pinacoteca of Cento and in the church of San Rocco e San Sebastiano. More Matteo Loves

Cristofano Allori,  (1577–1621)

Judith with the Head of Holophernes, c. 1613

Oil on canvas

120.4 × 100.3 cm (47.4 × 39.5 in)

Royal Collection

Cristofano Allori (17 October 1577 – 1 April 1621) was an Italian portrait painter of the late Florentine Mannerist school. Allori was born at Florence and received his first lessons in painting from his father. He entered the studio of Gregorio Pagani,  late Florentine school, which sought to unite the rich coloring of the Venetians with the Florentine attention to drawing. 

His pictures are distinguished by their close adherence to nature and the delicacy and technical perfection of their execution. His technical skill is shown by the fact that several copies he made of Correggio's works were thought to be duplicates by Correggio himself. His extreme fastidiousness limited the number of his works. 

His most famous work, in his own day and now, is Judith with the Head of Holofernes (above). It exists in at least two versions by Allori, of which the prime version is perhaps that in the British Royal Collection, dated 1613, with various pentimenti. A version of 1620 in the Palazzo Pitti in Florence is the best known and there are several copies by studio and other hands. More Cristofano Allori

Spanish Colonial, Peru, Cuzco School, ca. 1750 CE

Santa Barbara

oil-on-canvas

43.875" L x 31" W (111.4 cm x 78.7 cm)

Private Collection

Santa Barbara dressed in elaborate embroidered and lace-trimmed garments or rich hues and fabrics, holding her chief attribute, a model of the tower where her father locked her away to discourage suitors (Was this the source for Rapunzel perhaps?) as well as a huge peacock feather, a symbol of her immortality. She is regarded as the patron saint of armorers and firearms stemming from the theme of sudden death in her story, and is sometimes associated with the warrior saint George. 

Saint Barbara is a former Christian saint and virgin martyr believed to have lived in Asia Minor in the 3rd century. Her story dates to the 7th century and is retold in the Golden Legend. It is as follows: Dioscurus, the father of Barbara, was a heartless nobleman who had a tower built so that he could lock his daughter away to deter suitors. At first the tower only had two windows; however, Barbara persuaded the workmen to add a third when her father wasn't looking. She also secretly admitted a priest disguised as a doctor, who baptized her to become Christian. When her father returned, Barbara declared that the three windows symbolized the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost who ignited her soul. Dioscurus grew enraged and chased his daughter who had fled the tower. She hid in the crevice of a rock; however, a shepherd told her father of her hiding place. Once found, Barbara was dragged out by the hair and beaten by her father who next handed her over to the Roman authorities. She refused to renounce her Christian beliefs and was tortured. Miraculously, at the moment of her execution by her father's sword, he was struck by lightning, his body devoured by fire. More on Saint Barbara

The Cuzco School (Escuela Cuzquena) was a Roman Catholic artistic tradition which originated following the 1534 Spanish Conquest of the Inca Empire and continued during the Colonial Period in the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries. Though based in Cusco, Peru (the former capital of the Inca Empire), the Cuzco School extended to other cities of the Andes, present day Bolivia, and Ecuador. Today it is regarded as the first artistic center that taught European visual art techniques in the Americas. The primary intention of Cuzco School paintings was to be didactic. Hoping to convert the Incas to Catholicism, the Spanish sent religious artists to Cusco who created a school for the Quechua peoples and mestizos. Interestingly, Cusquena art was created by the indigenous as well as Spanish creoles. In addition to religious subjects, the Cuzco School expressed their cultural pride with paintings of Inca monarchs. Despite the fact that Cuzco School painters had studied prints of Flemish, Byzantine, and Italian Renaissance art, these artists' style and techniques were generally freer than that of their European models. More on The Cuzco School

ARTIST OF FRANCO -German XVII CENTURY

Flagellation of Christ

Oil on board

55,00 x 73,00 cm

Private Collection

The Flagellation of Christ, sometimes known as Christ at the Column or the Scourging at the Pillar, is a scene from the Passion of Christ very frequently shown in Christian art, in cycles of the Passion or the larger subject of the Life of Christ. It is the fourth station of the modern alternate Stations of the Cross, and a Sorrowful Mystery of the Rosary. The column to which Christ is normally tied, and the rope, scourge, whip or birch are elements in the Arma Christi. The Basilica di Santa Prassede in Rome, claimed to possess the original column. More on The Flagellation of Christ

Jean-Léon Gérôme, 1824 - 1904, FRENCH

BETHSABÉE

Oil on canvas

60.5 by 100cm., 23¾ by 39¼in.

Private Collection

'And it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king's house, and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon' (II Samuel 11:2)

Blending the Biblical subject with a masterful exploration of light and the human form, Gérôme's interpretation of the story belongs to his most important works.

Bathsheba was the wife of the Hittite Uriah, who served under Joab in King David's army. Uriah is away fighting a battle when David first spies Bathsheba from his palace. He sends messengers to find her. She goes to him, sleeps with him, and conceives his child. To conceal his sin, David recalls Uriah from battle, ostensibly to hear how the war is going, but actually to encourage him to sleep with his wife. Uriah renounces the opportunity out of conscience towards his fellow soldiers battling it out in the field, choosing instead to sleep before the gates of the king's palace. David now changes tack, instructing Joab to ensure Uriah fall on the battlefield, which he does. Bathsheba mourns her husband, then becomes David's wife. More on Bathsheba

Jean-Léon Gérôme (11 May 1824 – 10 January 1904) was a French painter and sculptor in the style now known as Academicism. The range of his oeuvre included historical painting, Greek mythology, Orientalism, portraits and other subjects, bringing the Academic painting tradition to an artistic climax. He is considered one of the most important painters from this academic period, and in addition to being a painter, he was also a teacher with a long list of students. More on Jean-Léon Gérôme

Andrea Mantegna, 1431 - 1506
Presentation in the Temple, c.1460
Tempera on wood
67 x 86 cm
Staatliche Museen, Berlin

The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, or The Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple, is a liturgical feast. The feast is associated with an event recounted not in the New Testament, but in the apocryphal Infancy Narrative of James. According to that text, Mary's parents, Joachim and Anne, who had been childless, received a heavenly message that they would have a child. In thanksgiving for the gift of their daughter, they brought her, when still a child, to the Temple in Jerusalem to consecrate her to God. Later versions of the story tell us that Mary was taken to the Temple at around the age of three in fulfillment of a vow. Tradition held that she was to remain there to be educated in preparation for her role as Mother of God. More on The Presentation of Mary

Andrea Mantegna ( c. 1431 – September 13, 1506) was an Italian painter, a student of Roman archeology, and son-in-law of Jacopo Bellini. Like other artists of the time, Mantegna experimented with perspective, e.g. by lowering the horizon in order to create a sense of greater monumentality. His flinty, metallic landscapes and somewhat stony figures give evidence of a fundamentally sculptural approach to painting. He also led a workshop that was the leading producer of prints in Venice before 1500. More on Andrea Mantegna

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42 Paintings, RELIGIOUS ART - The Story of John The Baptist as shown by the Old Masters, with footnotes, 13

Baronzio, Giovanni, c. 1320 - 1350

The Birth, Naming, and Circumcision of Saint John the Baptist, c. 1335

tempera on panel

46.4 × 38.3 cm (18 1/4 × 15 1/16 in.) overall: 48.8 × 40.7 cm (19 3/16 × 16 in.)

National Gallery of Art

Baronzio, Giovanni, c. 1320 - 1350, See Below

John the Baptist was a Jewish itinerant preacher and a major religious figure in Christianity, Islam, the Bahá'í Faith, and Mandaeism. He is called a prophet by all of these traditions, and a saint in many Christian traditions.

Baronzio, Giovanni, c. 1320 - 1350

The Feast of Herod and the Beheading of the Baptist, ca. 1330–35

Tempera on wood, gold ground, and silver

17 3/8 x 19 5/8 in. (44.1 x 49.8 cm)

The Metropolitan Museum

One of the most important surviving examples of fourteenth-century painting from Rimini (on Italy’s Adriatic coast), this panel was one of eight scenes depicting the life of Saint John the Baptist from a now-dismembered altarpiece. Riminese painters of the first half of the fourteenth century were indebted to Giotto, who worked in the city in the early years of the century. This dramatic scene unfolds in the palace of King Herod, who is so enchanted by the dancing of his stepdaughter, Salome (dressed in red and white in the foreground), that he grants her any wish. Prompted by her mother, Queen Herodias, Salome requests the head of Saint John the Baptist, which she presents to her on a platter. Queen Herodias sought revenge against Saint John for criticizing Herod’s marriage to his brother’s wife. More

Baronzio, Giovanni, c. 1320 - 1350, See Below

John used baptism as the central sacrament of his messianic movement. Most scholars agree that John baptized Jesus. Scholars generally believe Jesus was a follower or disciple of John and several New Testament accounts report that some of Jesus' early followers had previously been followers of John. John the Baptist is also mentioned by the Jewish historian Josephus. Some scholars maintain that John was influenced by the semi-ascetic Essenes, who expected an apocalypse and practiced rituals corresponding strongly with baptism, although no direct evidence substantiates this.

Baronzio, Giovanni, c. 1320 - 1350

The Baptism of Christ. c. 1335

tempera on panel

46.3 × 49 cm (18 1/4 × 19 5/16 in.) 

Possibly commissioned as part of the high altarpiece of a church dedicated to Saint John the Baptist in Emilia Romagna or in the Marche, Italy. More

Giovanni Baronzio, also known as Giovanni da Rimini, (died 1362), was an Italian painter. His year of birth is unknown. Baronzio is one of several fourteenth-century painters from Rimini, others being Giuliano, Pietro and Giovanni. The work of the Rimini school may have been influenced by Giotto (Listed below) during his visit to Rimini. Baronzio is known from a polyptych he executed for the Convent of the Friars Minor in Macerata Feltria. His devotional theme painting "Madonna Adoring Christ Child" resides in the High Museum of Art in Atlanta. More

According to the New Testament, John anticipated a messianic figure greater than himself, and Jesus was the one whose coming John foretold. Christians commonly refer to John as the precursor or forerunner of Jesus, since John announces Jesus' coming. John is also identified with the prophet Elijah.

Domenico Ghirlandaio (1449 – 11 January 1494

Angel Appearing to Zacharias, c. 1486

fresco

Tornabuoni Chapel, Firenze, Italy

Ghirlandaio portrayed a considerable number of contemporary political figures and members of the donor families. Those portrayed are not taking part in the biblical events; rather, it seems important to them to be seen in this context. The artist arranges them in groups of three, four and five figures on various ground levels, so that they do not overlap too much. As a result, the front groups are standing at the edges of the picture in rather absurd holes. It is likely that the artist had to accede to the wishes of his client and incorporate all these figures, relatives and friends, into the scene. In the process he once again showed himself to be a superb portrait painter with the talent to create character studies with a psychological profundity. More

Domenico Ghirlandaio (1449 – 11 January 1494) See Below

John the Baptist was born through the intercession of God to Zachariah and Elizabeth, who was otherwise too old to bear children. According to scriptures, the Angel Gabriel visited Elizabeth and Zachariah to tell them they would have a son and that they should name him John. Zachariah was skeptical and for this he was rendered mute until the time his son was born and named John, in fulfillment of God's will.

Cappella Tornabuoni

Visitation 

Santa Maria Novella, Florence, Italy

The Tornabuoni Chapel (Italian: Cappella Tornabuoni) is the main chapel (or chancel) in the church of Santa Maria Novella, Florence, Italy. It is famous for the extensive and well-preserved fresco cycle on its walls, one of the most complete in the city, which was created by Domenico Ghirlandaio and his workshop between 1485 and 1490. The main chapel of Santa Maria Novella was first frescoed in the mid-14th century by Andrea Orcagna. Remains of these paintings were found during restorations in the 1940s: these included, mostly in the vault, figures from the Old Testament. Some of these were detached and can be seen today in the Museum of the church. More

Jacques Daret, c. 1404 – c. 1470

Visitation, from Altarpiece of the Virgin (St Vaast Altarpiece)

Staatliche Museen, Berlin

Jacques Daret (c. 1404 – c. 1470) was an Early Netherlandish painter born in Tournai (Belgium), where he would spend much of his life. Daret spent 15 years as a pupil in the studio of Robert Campin, alongside Rogier or Rogelet de le Pasture (assumed by scholars to be Rogier van der Weyden, and afterwards became a master in his own right. He became a favorite of the Burgundian court, and his patron for 20 years was the abbot of St. Vaast in Arras, Jean de Clercq.


Only four panels of Daret's works are known to have survived: all are from the so-called Arras Altarpiece or Saint-Vaast Altarpiece, painted for the abbot between 1433 and 1435. These paintings show a striking resemblance to the Flemish realism of the Master of Flémalle. This is argued by most scholars to be evidence that the Master of Flémalle was Daret's master, Robert Campin. More

The Embrace of Elizabeth and the Virgin Mary.

 St. George Church, Kurbinovo, Macedonia

When Elizabeth was pregnant with John, she was visited by Mary, and John leapt in her womb. This revealed to Elizabeth that the child Mary carried was to be the Son of God.

St John The Baptist prostrating before his Lord while yet in the womb

Cappella tornabuoni

Birth of St John the Baptist (c 1486-90)

The Tornabuoni Chapel. See Above

Giuliano Bugiardini, 1475 – 1555

The Birth of St John the Baptist, c. 16th century

113 × 118 cm (44.5 × 46.5 in)

Galleria Estense, Modena, Italy

Giuliano Bugiardini (January 29, 1475 – February 17, 1555) was an Italian painter of the late-Renaissance period known as Mannerism, born and mainly active in Florence. Also known as Giuliano di Piero di Simone, he may have initially apprenticed with a sculptor Bertoldo, but then apprenticed with the painter Domenico Ghirlandaio. In 1503, he joined the painter's guild, the Compagnia di San Luca, and began an association with Mariotto Albertinelli that continued until 1509, when Albertinelli moved to the studio of Fra Bartolomeo. Bugiardini’s Virgin and Child can be seen in the National Museum in Warsaw. Vasari mentioned Bugiardini assisted Michelangelo very briefly in 1508 with the painting of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. He also painted in Bologna in 1526–1530. He painted a Rape of Diana. He painted a Martyrdom of St Catherine for Santa Maria Novella in Florence, based on Michelangelo's sketches. More

Nativity of John Baptist, 15 c, 

Hermitage

Russian icon of the Nativity of John the Baptist

The Eastern Orthodox faithful believe that John was the last of the Old Testament prophets, thus serving as a bridge between that period of revelation and the New Covenant. They also teach that, following his death, John descended into Hades and there once more preached that Jesus the Messiah was coming, so he was the Forerunner of Christ in death as he had been in life

Domenico Ghirlandaio (1449 – 11 January 1494)

Zacharias Writes Down the Name of his Son, c. 1486-90

Fresco, 

width 450 cm

Santa Maria Novella, Florence, Italy

Ghirlandaio has made this composition animated by the unusual device of placing the most important group of people, who are standing around Zacharias, off centre. This means that the baby John is in the centre directly under the middle pilaster. The open loggia architecture with a view onto a landscape in the background is not connected with the events in the picture. It is possible that it was added, as a backdrop, late in the production of the work.

Ghirlandaio places the seated priest Zacharias in front of a magnificent loggia which opens out onto an extensive landscape. Vasari writes how Zacharias, "whose spirit is undaunted although he is still mute, expresses amazement that a son has been born to him, and while they ask him what name to give his son, he writes on his knees - all the while staring at his son, who is held by a woman kneeling reverently before him - forming with a pen on paper the words 'His name will be John', to the astonishment of many of the other figures, who seem to be wondering whether this could be true or not." More

Domenico Ghirlandaio (1449 – 11 January 1494) See Below

Leonardo da Vinci, 1513–1516 (?)

St. John the Baptist

Oil on walnut wood

69 cm × 57 cm (27.1653543 in × 22.4409449 in)

Louvre, Paris

St. John the Baptist is a High Renaissance oil painting on walnut wood by Leonardo da Vinci. Probably completed from 1513 to 1516, it is believed to be his final painting and is now exhibited at the Musée du Louvre in Paris, France. More

Leonardo da Vinci, (Italian: “Leonardo from Vinci”)  (born April 15, 1452, Anchiano, near Vinci, Republic of Florence [Italy]—died May 2, 1519, Cloux [now Clos-Lucé], France), Italian painter, draftsman, sculptor, architect, and engineer whose genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance humanist ideal. His Last Supper (1495–98) and Mona Lisa (c. 1503–06) are among the most widely popular and influential paintings of the Renaissance. His notebooks reveal a spirit of scientific inquiry and a mechanical inventiveness that were centuries ahead of their time. More

As a gift from God, Zechariah (or Zakariya) was given a son by the name of "Yaḥya", a name specially chosen for this child alone. In accordance with Zechariah's prayer, God made John and Jesus, who according to exegesis was born six months later,[100] renew the message of God, which had been corrupted and lost by the Israelites. Islam

Prokopiy Chirin (Stroganov School of icon-painting)
John the Baptist - Desert Angel, c.  1620-s 
Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia.

John was exhorted to hold fast to the Scripture and was given wisdom by God while still a child.[102] He was pure and devout, and walked well in the presence of God. He was dutiful towards his parents and he was not arrogant or rebellious. John's reading and understanding of the scriptures, when only a child, surpassed even that of the greatest scholars of the time. Muslim exegesis narrates that Jesus sent John out with twelve disciples,[103] who preached the message before Jesus called his own disciples. Islam

John began public ministry around 30 AD, and was known for attracting large crowds across the province of Judaea and around the Jordan River. 

Cristofano Allori (1577–1621)
John the Baptist in the desert, c. 17th century
oil on canvas
Height: 177 cm (69.7 in). Width: 159 cm (62.6 in).
Pitti Palace, Firenze, Italy

Cristofano Allori (17 October 1577 – 1 April 1621) was an Italian portrait painter of the late Florentine Mannerist school. Allori was born at Florence and received his first lessons in painting from his father, Alessandro Allori, but becoming dissatisfied with the hard anatomical drawing and cold coloring of the latter, he entered the studio of Gregorio Pagani, who was one of the leaders of the late Florentine school, which sought to unite the rich coloring of the Venetians with the Florentine attention to drawing.

His pictures are distinguished by their close adherence to nature and the delicacy and technical perfection of their execution. His technical skill is shown by the fact that several copies he made of Correggio's works were thought to be duplicates by Correggio himself. His extreme fastidiousness limited the number of his works. Several examples are to be seen at Florence and elsewhere. More

Anton Raphael Mengs, (1728–1779)
St. John the Baptist Preaching in the Wilderness, c. 1760s?
Oil on canvas
Height: 214.6 mm (8.45 in). Width: 148 mm (5.83 in).
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX, United States

Anton Raphael Mengs, Raphael  (born March 22, 1728, Labem, Czech Republic—died June 29, 1779, Rome, Papal States, Italy),  was a leading artist of early Neoclassicism.

Mengs studied under his father in Dresden, Saxony, and then in Rome. He became painter to the Saxon court in Dresden in 1745 and executed a large number of portraits, most in brightly coloured pastels. Mengs returned to Rome in the early 1750s, and about 1755 he became a close friend of the German archaeologist and art critic J.J. Winckelmann. He came to share Winckelmann’s enthusiasm for classical antiquity, and, upon its completion in 1761, his fresco Parnassus at the Villa Albani in Rome created a sensation and helped establish the ascendancy of Neoclassical painting. Mengs also continued to paint portraits during this period, competing with Pompeo Batoni, the leading Rococo portraitist of the Roman school. In 1761 he went to the Spanish court at Madrid, where he worked on the decoration of royal palaces. From 1769 to 1772 Mengs was in Rome, decorating the Camera dei Papiri in the Vatican, and he returned to Spain from 1773 to 1777.

Mengs was widely regarded in his day as Europe’s greatest living painter. He eschewed the dramatic illusionism and dynamism of the Baroque style in his figural compositions, preferring instead to blend quotations from ancient sculptures with stylistic elements of Raphael, Correggio, and Titian. Mengs’s reputation has declined precipitously since the 18th century. Some of his portraits display a freedom and sureness of touch. Mengs’s treatise Reflections on Beauty and Taste in Painting (1762) was also influential in his day. More

Joan de Joanes, (1510–1579)
Saint John the Baptist, circa 1560
Oil on Canvas
Joan J. Gavara Collection (Valencia)

Vicente Juan Masip (also Vicente Macip;Catalan: 'Vicent Joan Masip'; 1475– 1545) (also known as Joan de Joanes (La Font de la Figuera 1507 - Bocairent 1579) was a Spanish painter of the Renaissance period. He was one of the main members, and was considered the premier painter of the Valencian school of painters.

Born in La Font de la Figuera, he is said to have studied his art for some time in Italy due to Sebastiano del Piombo's influence, with which school his affinities are closest, but maybe he never went to Italy, and he received this influence by the Italian peintures arriving to Valencia. Furthermore, two Italian painters Paolo da San Leocadio and Francesco Pagano, were engaged by cardinal Rodrigo Borgia for painting in Valencia Cathedral. Otherwise, the greater part of his professional life was spent in the city of Valencia, where most of the extant examples of his work are now found. All relate to religious subjects, and are characterized by dignity of conception, accuracy of drawing, beauty of color, and minuteness of finish. He died at Bocairent (near Xàtiva) while working on an altarpiece in the church there. More

John was a classical prophet, who was exalted high by God, for his bold denouncing of all things sinful. Furthermore, the Qur'an speaks of John's gentle pity and love and his humble attitude towards life, for which he was granted the Purity of Life

Pieter Brueghel the Elder (1526/1530–1569)
The Sermon of St John the Baptist, c. 1566
oil on panel
Museum of Fine Arts (Budapest)

Pieter Bruegel (also Breughel) the Elder (c. 1525 – 9 September 1569) was a Netherlandish Renaissance painter and printmaker from Brabant, known for his landscapes and peasant scenes (so called genre painting). He is sometimes referred to as the "Peasant Bruegel". From 1559, he dropped the "h" from his name and signed his paintings as Bruegel.

Bruegel specialized in genre paintings populated by peasants but he also painted religious works. Making the life and manners of peasants the main focus of a work was rare in painting in Bruegel's time, and he was a pioneer of the genre painting. His earthy, unsentimental but vivid depiction of the rituals of village life are unique windows on a vanished folk culture, though still characteristic of Belgian life and culture today, and a prime source of iconographic evidence about both physical and social aspects of 16th-century life.

More

John is also honored highly in Sufism as well as Islamic mysticism, primarily because of the Qur'an's description of John's chastity and kindness. Sufis have frequently applied commentaries on the passages on John in the Qur'an, primarily concerning the God-given gift of "Wisdom" which he acquired in youth as well as his parallels with Jesus. Although several phrases used to describe John and Jesus are virtually identical in the Qur'an, the manner in which they are expressed is different. 

Domenico Ghirlandaio (1449–1494)
Preaching of St John the Baptist, between 1486 and 1490
fresco
Tornabuoni Chapel,  Firenze, Italy

While St John in a fur robe is making didactic gestures and preaching about the coming of the Messiah to an intent group of listeners, Christ is already approaching. Unnoticed by the Baptist, who is pointing to his cross staff, Christ is stepping out of the background into the scene between the rocks. More

Domenico Ghirlandaio (1449 – 11 January 1494) was an Italian Renaissance painter from Florence. Ghirlandaio was part of the so-called "third generation" of the Florentine Renaissance, along with Verrocchio, the Pollaiolo brothers and Sandro Botticelli. Ghirlandaio was the leader of a large and efficient workshop which included his brothers Davide Ghirlandaio and Benedetto Ghirlandaio, his brother-in-law Sebastiano Mainardi from San Gimignano and later his son Ridolfo Ghirlandaio.  Among the many apprentices that passed through his workshop, the most famous was Michelangelo. Ghirlandaio's particular talent was his ability to depict contemporary life and portraits of contemporary people within the context of religious narratives. This brought him great popularity and many large commissions. More

When Jesus came to him to be baptized, John recognized him and said, "It is I who need baptism from you."

Mattia Preti (Italian, 1613–1699)
Baptism of Christ
oil on canvas
100 x 135 cm. (39.4 x 53.1 in.)

Mattia Preti (24 February 1613 – 3 January 1699) See Below

Jesus told John to baptize Him anyway, which he did, whereupon the heavens opened, and the Spirit of God was seen like a dove. The voice of God spoke, saying, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

Andrea del Verrocchio, (1436–1488), assisted by
Leonardo da Vinci, (1452–1519)
The Baptism of Christ, circa 1475
oil on panel
177 × 151 cm (69.7 × 59.4 in)
Uffizi Gallery

Andrea del Verrocchio (c. 1435 – 1488), born Andrea di Michele di Francesco de' Cioni, was an Italian painter, sculptor, and goldsmith who was master of an important workshop in Florence. He became known by his nickname "Verrocchio" which in Italian means "true eye" a tribute given to him for his artistic achievement. Few paintings are attributed to him with certainty, but a number of important painters were trained at his workshop. His pupils included Leonardo da Vinci, Pietro Perugino and Lorenzo di Credi. His greatest importance was as a sculptor and his last work, the Equestrian statue of Bartolomeo Colleoni in Venice, is generally accepted as a masterpiece. More

Joachim Patenir (also Patenier), c. 1480 – 5 October 1524
Baptism of Christ, c. 1510-1520
Oil on oak,
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

This work, one of Joachim Patenir's best-known compositions, tells the narrative story of the baptism of Christ set in a dramatic and otherworldly landscape. The compositional structure begins with God the Father, bathed in light, peeking through the dark clouds and gesturing down toward the dove of the Holy Spirit. Directly in line below the dove is John the Baptist’s gentle hand and the baptism of Christ. In a simultaneous scene just left of center, again we see John the Baptist sermonizing to his followers with Christ repeated in the background wearing a blue robe and watching from afar.

Joachim Patinir, also called Patenier (c. 1480 – 5 October 1524), was a Flemish Northern Renaissance history and landscape painter from the area of modern Wallonia.[1] He was probably the uncle of Herri met de Bles, his follower in establishing the world landscape, a distinct style of panoramic northern Renaissance landscapes. More

Guido Reni, (1575–1642)
The Baptism of Christ, between circa 1622 and circa 1623
oil on canvas
Height: 263.5 cm (103.7 in). Width: 186.5 cm (73.4 in).
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Wien, Austria

Here we see Reni’s mature style, emphasizing mastery of composition and perspective. In the foreground, Christ bows his head as John the Baptist pours from the baptismal cup. John seemingly rises over the scene from the banks of the River Jordan. The two form an arch that frames two angels holding Christ’s crimson robes. In the background, the blue sky and clouds provide a backdrop for the dove of the Holy Spirit as it oversees the events. More

Guido Reni (1575−1642), See Below

Following his baptism of Christ, John's popularity grew so much that he alarmed King Herod. Herod ordered him arrested and imprisoned.

Herod Antipater (born before 20 BC – died after 39 AD), was named to the throne by Augustus upon the death of his father, Herod the Great, in 4 BC. Antipas ruled Galilee and Perea as a client state of the Roman Empire. He was responsible for building projects at Sepphoris and Betharamphtha, and more important for the construction of his capital Tiberias on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. Named in honor of his patron, the emperor Tiberius.

Giovanni Fattori, (1825 - 1908)
Saint John the Baptist convicts Herod
Oil on canvas
Galleria dell 'Accademia, Florence, Italy

Giovanni Fattori (September 6, 1825 – August 30, 1908) was an Italian artist, one of the leaders of the group known as the Macchiaioli. He was initially a painter of historical themes and military subjects. In his middle years, inspired by the Barbizon school, he became one of the leading Italian plein-airists, painting landscapes, rural scenes, and scenes of military life. After 1884, he devoted much energy to etching. More

John spoke with Herod on several occasions and condemned his marriage to his half-brother's wife, Herodias.

Mattia Preti, (1613–1699)
Feast of Herod, c. 1656 - 1661
oil on canvas
Height: 1,778 mm (70 in). Width: 2,521 mm (99.25 in).
Toledo Museum, United States

Mattia Preti (24 February 1613 – 3 January 1699) was an Italian Baroque artist who worked in Italy and Malta. He was also a member of the Order of Saint John. Born in the small town of Taverna in Calabria, Preti was called Il Cavalier Calabrese (the Calabrian Knight) after he was accepted into the Order of St. John (Knights of Malta) in 1660. His early apprenticeship is said to have been with the "Caravaggist" Giovanni Battista Caracciolo, which may account for his lifelong interest in the style of Caravaggio.

Preti joined his brother Gregorio (also a painter), in Rome, where he became familiar with the techniques of Caravaggio and his school as well as with the work of Guercino, Rubens, Guido Reni, and Giovanni Lanfranco. He remained based in Rome until 1653, returning later in 1660-61. 

During most of 1653-1660, he worked in Naples, where he was influenced by another major painter of his era, Luca Giordano. One of Preti's masterpieces were a series of large frescoes, ex-votos of the plague (which were painted on seven city gates but have since been lost to the ravages of time), depicting the Virgin or saints delivering people from the plague.

Having been made a Knight of Grace in the Order of St John, he visited the order’s headquarters in Malta in 1659 and spent most of the remainder of his life there. Preti transformed the interior of St. John's Co-Cathedral in Valletta, with a huge series of paintings on the life and martyrdom of St. John the Baptist (1661–1666). In Malta one also can find many paintings of Preti in private collections and in parish churches. His increased reputation led to an expanded circle of patrons, and he received commissions from all over Europe. More

Herodias, daughter of Aristobulus -- son of Herod the Great and Mariamne -- was a descendant of the famous Hasmonean heroes, the Machabees, who had done so much for the Jewish nation. Having married Herod Philip, her own uncle, by whom she had a daughter, Salome, Herodias longed for social distinction, and accordingly left her husband and entered into the adulterous union with Herod Antipas, Tetrarch of Galilee, who was also her uncle.

Gozzoli, Benozzo, Florentine, c. 1421 - 1497
The Feast of Herod and the Beheading of Saint John the Baptist, c. 1461-1462
tempera on poplar panel
23.8 x 34.5 cm (9 3/8 x 13 9/16 in.)
National Gallery of Art

Gozzoli uses his storytelling prowess here to depict the story of Salome. Gazzoli uses intense color and vigorous action to create drama and interest in this composition. Central to the narrative story is Salome, depicted in a billowing dress, twirling her arms and legs in dance. She holds Herod’s rapt attention as he watches from behind the dinner table, placing his arm over his heart. According to the biblical story, Herod was so taken by her performance that he promised Salome anything she wanted. Influenced by her mother, Salome asked for the head of John the Baptist. John appears kneeling in the lower left as the executioner raises his sword at Herod’s order. In the background, Salome kneels at her mother’s lap, presenting her with the severed head. More

Benozzo Gozzoli, also called Benozzo di Lese    (born c. 1421, Florence [Italy]—died Oct. 4, 1497, Pistoia), early Italian Renaissance painter whose masterpiece, a fresco cycle in the chapel of the Medici-Riccardi Palace, Florence, reveals a new interest in nature (a careful study of realistic detail in landscape and the costumed figure) and in the representation of human features as definite portraiture.

Gozzoli’s formative collaborations included those with Lorenzo and Vittorio Ghiberti on the third bronze door of the Baptistery, Florence, and with Fra Angelico (1447) on some frescoes in the chapel of Pope Nicholas V, Vatican, and on the ceiling of the Chapel of San Brizio in the cathedral at Orvieto. At Viterbo (after 1453) he painted nine frescoes of scenes from St. Rose’s life. After painting an altarpiece at Perugia for Collegio Gerolominiano (1456) and visiting Rome in 1458, he returned to Florence, where he painted the frescoed chapel of the Medici-Riccardi Palace (dating from 1459 to 1460). Gozzoli’s work as a whole has a rather empty facility, but in the latter commission, his “Procession of the Magi” reveals an artist of great decorative talent, with a pronounced gift for landscape and portraiture. By 1463 he was working at San Gimignano on a cycle of 17 scenes from the life of St. Augustine in the choir of Sant’Agostino (last scene signed and dated 1465) and on a fresco of St. Sebastian (1464). Between 1469 and 1485 he painted his most extensive commission, a series of 25 frescoes of Old Testament scenes for the Campo Santo (cemetery), Pisa. More

GHIRLANDAIO, Domenico, (b. 1449, Firenze, d. 1494, Firenze)
Herod's Banquet, c. 1486-90
Fresco, width 450 cm
Cappella Tornabuoni, Santa Maria Novella, Florence

The cycle of the life of St John concludes in the large tympanum with Herod's Banquet, about which Vasari wrote that: "The last scene, the one in the arch next to the vaulting, presents the sumptuous Banquet of Herod and the Dance of Herodias, along with countless servants performing various chores in the scene ; the picture also contains a large building drawn in perspective which, together with the painted figures, clearly reveals Domenico's skill."

A colossal palace architecture, carefully constructed according to the laws of perspective, rises up in the form of a series of enormous barrel and dome vaults, which in the foreground are supported by columns. Ghirlandaio was familiar with these columns with entablature blocks from Brunelleschi's Florentine churches of Santo Spirito and San Lorenzo, while the complex overall design of the building is reminiscent of the Maxentius Basilica in Rome. That classical building had been built by the Roman emperors Maxentius and Constantine as a monumental hall building with three aisles; the long central aisle was roofed by three huge groin vaults and the side aisles by coffered vaults.

Ghirlandaio uses his powers to the full, both in the extravagant architecture and the vivid, though still somewhat stiff, figure of the dancing Salome. Ghirlandaio adopted and varied this dancing figure, together with the entire composition of the scene, from Filippo Lippi's depiction of the same scene in Prato Cathedral, painted between 1452 and 1466. That earlier painting already contains the musicians on the left, the row of pots on the right and the view out onto a landscape in the center. The arrangement of the figures was altered, but scarcely improved, by Ghirlandaio. Above all, and in the face of the festive and yet gruesome events, the figures lack all sense of drama. They display neither a lively party mood nor signs of horror or repulsion. The arrangement of the banqueters around the three long laid tables is reminiscent of Ghirlandaio's earlier depictions of the Last Supper. Here too, in addition to wine glasses and bowls, red cherries are arranged on the white table cloth. More

Domenico Ghirlandaio, (1449 – 11 January 1494), See Above

Paul Delaroche, (1797–1856)
Herodias, c. 1843
Medium oil on canvas
129 x 98 cm
Current location
Wallraf-Richartz-Museum, Köln, Germany

Paul Delaroche (17 July 1797 – 4 November 1856), born Hippolyte, was a French painter. He was trained by Antoine-Jean, Baron Gros, a painter of life-size historical subjects who had many students. The first Delaroche picture exhibited was the large Jehosheba saving Joash (1822). This exhibition led to his acquaintance with Théodore Géricault and Eugène Delacroix, with whom he formed the core of a large group of Parisian historical painters. He visited Italy in 1838 and 1843, when his father-in-law, Horace Vernet, was director of the French Academy in Rome. In 1845, he was elected into the National Academy of Design, New York, as an Honorary Academician.

He was born, worked, and died in Paris. His studio was in the rue Mazarin. His subjects were painted with a firm, solid, smooth surface, which gave an appearance of the highest finish. This texture was the manner of the day and was also found in the works of Vernet, Ary Scheffer, Louis Léopold Robert and Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres. Among his students were British landscape artist Henry Mark Anthony, British history painters Edward Armitage and Charles Lucy, and American painter/photographer Alfred Boisseau (1823–1901). More

This condemnation would be his downfall as King Herod promised to grant a wish to his daughter. In revenge for John the Baptist's condemnation of her mother's scandalous marriage to Herod, she asked for John's head. King Herod reluctantly obliged. John the Baptist died sometime between 33 and 36 AD.

Jean Sala, (Spanish, born 1895)

Salome

Oil on Canvas

99.3 x 71.2 cm. (39.1 x 28 in.)

Besides provoking his conflict with the Baptizer, the tetrarch's divorce added a personal grievance to previous disputes with King Aretas IV of Nabatea, father of King Herod's first wife, (Petra, Jordan was the capital of the Nabataean Empire of King Aretas IV), over territory on the border of Perea and Nabatea. The result was a war that proved disastrous for Antipas; a Roman counter-offensive was ordered by Tiberius, but abandoned upon that emperor's death in 37 AD. In 39 AD.

Polydore Beaufaux, (1829 - 1905)

Salome, c. 1873

118 x 78 cm

Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp

Polydore Beaufaux (30 November 1829, Court-Saint-Étienne - 7 May 1905, Wavre) was a Belgian painter. He favored Biblical scenes, portraits and genre pieces. From 1844 to 1850, he studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts (Antwerp). In 1857, he won the Prix de Rome (Belgium) for painting. He used his prize money to make a study trip from 1859 to 1863, visiting France and Italy, where he did a portrait of Pope Pius IX.

The following year, he became a Professor at the Academy, where he taught a course entitled "Painting from Life". Léon Abry, Gerard Portielje and Edouard de Jans are among his best-known students. He exhibited regularly at the Paris Salon.

In 1889, he made a trip to England, then left Antwerp to settle in Wavre. A year later, he became paralyzed in his hands and could no longer paint. More

When Agrippa, the brother of Herodias became king, she persuaded Antipas to go to Rome in search of the royal title, as his claim to it was far greater than that of her brother. Instead of a crown, however, he found awaiting him a charge of treason against the Romans, with Agrippa as chief accuser, who in advance had sent messengers to defeat the ambitious plans of Antipas.

Leopold Schmutzler (29 March 1864, Stříbro - 20 June 1940, Munich) 

Danse de Salomé, circa 1910

oil on artists board

138 x 96 cm. (54.3 x 37.8 in.)

Leopold Schmutzler (29 March 1864, Stříbro - 20 June 1940, Munich) See Below

As to her dancing daughter Salome, there is a tradition gathered from ancient authors, that, having gone out one winter day to dance upon a frozen river, she fell through into the water; the ice, immediately closing round her neck, cut off her head, which bounded upon the surface, thus continuing for some moments the dance of death" (Gueranger 112).

Leopold Schmutzler (29 March 1864, Stříbro - 20 June 1940, Munich) 

Lili Marberg as Salome

oil on artists board

138 x 96 cm. (54.3 x 37.8 in.)

Around the turn of the century Schmutzler was one of the most sought portraitists in Munich. He received important commissions, including the Bavarian royal family, but also often painted dancers and actresses. He gained fame with his display of Lili Marberg (1878-1962) in the role of Salome. Marberg played the role in the Deutsches Volkstheater 1906 production.  

Leopold Schmutzler (29 March 1864, Stříbro - 20 June 1940, Munich) was a Bohemian-born German painter that specialized in portraits, semi-erotic female figures, and Rococo-style genre scenes in his later years. From 1880 to 1882, he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna with Christian Griepenkerl . After that, he transferred to the Academy of Fine Arts Munich He settled there after his graduation in 1885. He also spent brief study periods in Rome and Paris.

By the turn of the century, he had become one of the busiest portrait painters in Munich. He received important commissions from the Bavarian Royal Family, but also portrayed dancers and other popular performers. In fact, one of his best-known portraits was of the actress Lili Marberg (1876-1962) in the role of Salome. (Above)

His style was generally realistic with Art-Deco elements. He always paid great attention to his subject's clothings. In the thirties, he became a supporter of the Nazis and created a series of works that reflected the Blut und Boden ideology. In 1940, not long before his death, Jungfrauen nach der Arbeit (Maidens after Work) won a major award at the "Große Deutsche Kunstausstellung" in the Haus der Kunst and was purchased by Hitler for 7,000 Reichsmarks.

His association with the Nazi regime virtually destroyed his career outside Germany, and his posthumous reputation, although his works may still be seen at several museums, including the Frye Art Museum in Seattle whose founder, Charles Frye (1858-1940), was a great admirer of Schmutzler's pre-Nazi work. More

St. John the Baptist's disciples buried his body at Sebaste, a city in Palestine…and many miracles had occurred at his tomb (cf. Voragine 135). “For this reason the pagans, by order of Julian the Apostate, scattered his bones, but the miracles did not cease, and the bones were collected, burned, and pulverized, and the ashes thrown to the winds to be blown over the fields…” (135). 

Guido Reni, (4 November 1575 – 18 August 1642)

Salome with the head of St. John Baptist, c. 1640

Oil on canvas

248 x 172 cm

Guido Reni (1575−1642), See Above

On the day when the bones were collected to be burned, some monks from Jerusalem secretly mingled with the pagans and carried out many of the relics, saving them from destruction. They delivered these to Philip, bishop of Jerusalem, who sent them to Anastasius, the bishop of Alexandria. During the Crusades, many of them were brought into the West and distributed among many churches.

After Guido Reni (1575–1642)

Salome with the Head of John the Baptist (18th-century copy)

Oil on canvas

170.2 by 132.7 cm

Guido Reni (4 November 1575 – 18 August 1642) was an Italian painter of high-Baroque style. Born in Bologna into a family of musicians. As a child of nine, he was apprenticed under the Bolognese studio of Denis Calvaert. He may also have trained with a painter by the name of Ferrantini. When Reni was about twenty years old, he migrated to the rising rival studio, named Accademia degli Incamminati (Academy of the "newly embarked", or progressives), led by Lodovico Carracci. They went on to form the nucleus of a prolific and successful school of Bolognese painters who followed Annibale Carracci to Rome. Like many other Bolognese painters, Reni's painting was thematic and eclectic in style. More

Henri Regnault (1843–1871)

Salomé, c. 1870

oil on canvas

160 × 101 cm (63 × 39.8 in)

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Alexandre-Georges-Henri Regnault (31 October 1843 – 19 January 1871) was a French painter. Regnault was born in Paris, the son of Henri Victor Regnault. On leaving school he successively entered the studios of Antoine Montfort, Louis Lamothe and Alexandre Cabanel, was beaten for the Prix de Rome (1863) by Joseph Layraud and Xaiver Monchablon, and in 1864 exhibited two portraits in no wise remarkable at the Paris Salon. In 1866, however, he carried off the Prix de Rome with a work of unusual force and distinction Thetis bringing the Arms forged by Vulcan to Achilles (School of the Fine Arts).

The past in Italy did not touch him, but his illustrations to Wey's Rome show how observant he was of actual life and manners; even his Automedon (School of Fine Arts), executed in obedience to Academical regulations, was but a lively recollection of a carnival horse-race. At Rome, moreover, Regnault came into contact with the modern Hispano-Italian school, a school highly materialistic and inclined to regard even the human subject only as one amongst many sources whence to obtain amusement for the eye. The vital, if narrow, energy of this school told on Regnault with ever-increasing force during the few remaining years of his life.

He painted Judith, then, in 1870, Salomé and Execution Without Hearing Under the Moorish Kings, in which the painter had played with the blood of the victim as if he were a jeweller toying with rubies. The Franco-Prussian War arose, and found Regnault foremost in the devoted ranks of the Battle of Buzenval, where he fell on 19 January 1871. His friend, the composer Camille Saint-Saëns dedicated his Marche héroïque (1871) to Regnault's memory. More

It is said that when John was beheaded, Herodias had John’s head taken to Jerusalem to be buried because “she feared that the prophet would return to life if his head was buried with his body. Four hundred years later some monks took the head to venerate it in a more proper place. It was stolen and hidden in a cave. 

Jean Benner (1836–1906)

Salomé, c. 1899

oil on canvas

118 × 80 cm (46.5 × 31.5 in)

Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nantes

Jean Benner (28 March 1836, Mulhouse – 28 October 1906, Paris) was a French artist, and twin to fellow artist, Emmanuel Benner. The Benner brothers were first designers at Mulhouse mills and factories. By 30 years of age, he was able to study art with Léon Bonnat, Eck and Jean-Jacques Henner and exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1868. In 1881 he won his first medal there for this painting Le Repos.

He painted still-life, portrait and genre paintings, including After a Storm at Capri (1872), Trappist in Prayer (1875), Petite Falle de Capri, Flowers and Fruits (1868), and Reverie.

He also painted in the Isle of Capri, which was an artist colony at that time, its residents included Frederic Leighton, Walter McLaren, John Singer Sargent, Edouard Alexandre Sain, and Sophie Gengembre Anderson. More

The man who stole it revealed on his deathbed where it was, but the hiding place was kept secret for a long time. Many years later, a holy monk, St. Marcellus, had taken up residence in this cave. It was revealed to him where the head was hidden. The head was then enshrined in a beautiful church in Poitiers in France.

Ella Ferris Pell (American painter) 1846 - 1922

Salome, c 1890

Oil on canvas

129.54 x 86.36 cm, (50¾" x 33¾")

The American painter’s Ella Ferris Pell depiction of Salome differs from the male fin-de-siecle versions. Exhibited in Paris, Pell’s 1890 Salome does not gaze at the viewer with a look of “crazed sexual hunger”. The healthy young woman, evidently an artist’s model of flesh and bone, stands as the lone figure gazing downwardly. Her long flowing hair unbound, she stands in contrapposto holding the charger for the head of John the Baptist. The blood and gore of the male-depicted Salomes is entirely absent from Pell’s version. This Salome is rather the contemplative woman of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. She has more to do with Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s contemplative women than with the blood-thirsty, sexually-charged Salomes of Bonnaud, Moreau, and Beardsley. Thus, in a feminist way, Pell challenges the male image of the evil temptress. Nevertheless, Pell’s painting remained largely ignored by critics, which Dijkstra points to as a sign of the fin-de-siecle’s adamancy to establish Salome as the quintessential image of the femme fatale. More

Ella Ferris Pell was born on January 18th, 1846 in St. Louis, Missouri. Capable in painting, sculpture, and illustrations, she studied with William Rimmer at the Design School for Women at Cooper. Little is conclusively known about her family history; yet, the late Senator Clairborne Pell of Rhode Island presumed her to be the great niece of William Ferris. After graduating from the Design School for Women in 1870, Pell traveled extensively on a five-and-a-half-year voyage to Europe, the Maghreb, and parts of the Near East with her sister Evie A. Todd, and brother Charles. After returning to the states, Pell exhibited several paintings at the National Academy of Design, New York including “La Annunziata” and “Water Vendor, Cairo, Egypt.” The whereabouts of these paintings are unknown. In the 1880’s, Pell studied at “the Académie des Beaux- Arts des Champs- Élysées with Jeal-Paul Laurens, Jacques-Fernand Humbert, and Gatson Casimir Saint-Pierre.” Pell also illustrated Paul Tyner’s love story Through the Invisible, published in 1897. Later on in her career, the Paris Salon accepted three of Pell’s paintings from 1889-90, The Angel Making Adam, Salome, and Portrait of Mme. T. Ella Pell perished in 1922, in New York where she is buried next to her sister in an unmarked grave. More

Éder Gyula (1875-1945), Hungarian

Salomé holding the severed head of John the Baptist (1907)

Gyula Eder (Kosice, 1875. Dec. 25 - Budapest, 1945. September 30) Hungarian painter, graphic artist and cartoonist. He began his art studies  between 1901 and 1905 at the school in Budapest and then in Munich, at the Academy of Fine Arts. In 1911 he received the Marcell Nemes Award, and in 1913 was awarded the Elizabeth City Casino award. 1902 he set up an Art Gallery for group exhibitions. In 1903 he painted the készítetette ceiling of the casino Kosice, a large decorative work. His wife and love "muse", Jolánka, died. Children are not born. He had had an accident in 1936.  Due to a  failed surgery both legs were paralyzed, forcing him to sit while paint. He continued working, fbut lived mostly in solitude.  The artist's apartment was bombed on 26 January 1945, in which almost everything was destroyed. Due to a lack of medicines, he lost first one and then the other eye. He died in 1945 of pneumonia.

His pictures are mostly illustrations, portraits, mythological and religious subjects images. Many of his paintings are preserved in the Hungarian National Gallery. More

Pierre Bonnaud, (1867-1947)

Salome

Oil on canvas

198 x 141 cm

Pierre Bonnaud, 1865-1930, a French artist born in Lyon. Pierre entered the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Lyon, he was taught by J.B. Poncet. He then went to the Ecole des Beaux-Arts Paris where he worked with Jean-Paul Laurens, Bonnat, Gerome and Gustave Moreau. Bonnaud learned how to harmonize colour that is evident in the works he created. He exhibited at the Lyon Salon from 1888 and at the Paris Salon from 1891. His work is fine and of a very high quality, he worked on canvas, panels and Limoges enamelled copper. Pierre painted portraits, still life, genre scenes and history subjects. He enjoyed painting female subjects. More

Caravaggio, (1571–1610)
Salome with the Head of John the baptist
Web Gallery of Art 

Caravaggio, byname of Michelangelo Merisi   (born September 29, 1571, Milan or Caravaggio [Italy]—died July 18/19, 1610, Porto Ercole, Tuscany), leading Italian painter of the late 16th and early 17th centuries who became famous for the intense and unsettling realism of his large-scale religious works. More

Nabi Yahya Mosque, the main mosque in the village of Sebastiya, near Nablus, West Bank, the traditional burial site of John Baptist,

Date 1900-1920


Frantisek Drtikol
Ervina Kupferova as Salome with the Head of John the Baptist

Artists:
Baronzio, Giovanni, c. 1320 - 1350,
Domenico Ghirlandaio (1449 – 11 January 1494) 
Jacques Daret, c. 1404 – c. 1470
Giuliano Bugiardini, 1475 – 1555
Leonardo da Vinci, 1513–1516
Cristofano Allori (1577–1621)
Anton Raphael Mengs, (1728–1779)
Joan de Joanes, (1510–1579)
Pieter Brueghel the Elder (1526/1530–1569)
Mattia Preti (Italian, 1613–1699)
Andrea del Verrocchio, (1436–1488)
Leonardo da Vinci, (1452–1519)
Joachim Patenir (also Patenier), c. 1480 – 5 October 1524
Guido Reni, (1575–1642)
Giovanni Fattori, (1825 - 1908)
Mattia Preti, (1613–1699)
Gozzoli, Benozzo, Florentine, c. 1421 - 1497
Paul Delaroche, (1797–1856)
Jean Sala, (Spanish, born 1895)
Polydore Beaufaux, (1829 - 1905)
Leopold Schmutzler (29 March 1864, Stříbro - 20 June 1940, Munich) 
Henri Regnault (1843–1871)
Jean Benner (1836–1906)
Ella Ferris Pell (American painter) 1846 - 1922
Éder Gyula (1875-1945)
Pierre Bonnaud, 1865-1930
Caravaggio, (1571–1610)
Frantisek Drtikol

Acknowledgement: Wikipedia, Catholic Online,