Salome and the execution of John the Baptist

To understand

 What you can see in this picture……

Salome is a pretty girl; her face is serene and calm.

She has just been given the head of John the Baptist on a tray or platter, that is to say without her doing anything. Be attentive to the image above: the arm that can be seen is not Salome’s but that of the man who places the head on the tray.

Salome, the girl’s name, does not appear in the Gospel but is given by the Jewish historian Flavius Joseph. She is the daughter of the first marriage of Herodias and Philip, King Herod’s brother; she is then at the same time the king’s niece and his daughter-in-law.

John the Baptist has been beheaded at Salome’s demand but at the advice of her mother Herodias after she has charmed King Herod with her dance. So Salome brings the tray to her mother and she can hold the head by the hair to present it to her. The scene is seldom gory for the dead man’s face also expresses serenity, that of the just man.

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The Beheading of St John the Baptist; Hans MEMLING; 1474-79; oil on oak panel; St John Altarpiece; Memlingmuseum, St John’s Hospital, Brugge, Belgium

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..and in this one

The execution or “decollation” of John Baptist is the centre of the narrative. The executioner beheads him with a sword or an axe right on the ground, in a more or less realistic manner. Then he seizes the head and places it on a platter that he hands out to Salome who is attending the scene.

The banquet is sometimes represented in the background. King Herod celebrates his birthday with his new wife Herodias and the members of his court. He wears a crown or a Jewish cap, his clothing and the scenery are more or less sumptuous. They are waiting for John the Baptist’s death. Salome’s dance is sometimes integrated into the scene or treated separately, the movement is suggested by the veils whose number, fixed by the legend, is seven.

Salome brings the platter with John’s head into the banqueting hall. This scene is to be compared to the one where Judith holds Holofernes’ head (See Judith). Herod and Herodias cover their eyes in disgust or Herodias, more depraved, pierces John’s tongue with a needle to manifest her hatred for his words.

The head of John the Baptist can also be represented by itself on a tray. It is a common motif, the emblem of brotherhoods of mercy.

Not be confused with

The biblical narrative

The Gospel according to Mark, chapter 6.

John the Baptist is a prophet asking for the conversion of sinners. In Galilee, he denounces the local king, Herod Antipas, who has married his sister-in-law Herodias. For John has said to Herod: It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife.

During a banquet, Herodias introduces her daughter Salome,

the daughter of the said Herodias came in, and danced, and pleased Herod and those who sat with him, the king said to the damsel, Ask of me whatsoever you want, and I will give it to you.

And she went forth, and said to her mother, What shall I ask? And she said, The head of John the Baptist…

And immediately the king sent an executioner, and commanded his head to be brought: and he went and beheaded him in the prison,

And brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the damsel: and the damsel gave it to her mother.

And when his disciples heard of it, they came and took up his corpse, and laid it in a tomb. (Mark 6:22-29)

Comment

John the Baptist’s death is that of a prophet, the one whose words disturb the established powers. John the Baptist being the “forerunner” of Jesus, his death also heralds that of Christ.

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