Loading

Beheading of John the Baptist

Mattia Preti1661-1666

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
New York, United States

A study for mural decoration around a window, S. Giovanni in Valletta, Malta; Verso a sketch for a ceiling plan. At top left, two women, possibly Salome, holding a platter watching to the right as John the Baptist kneels down while a soldier above him is ready to strike down with a sword. At center at each end two figures are seated holding an end of a garland. Bottom center a doorway with seated soldiers holding shields on either side.

Show lessRead more
  • Title: Beheading of John the Baptist
  • Creator: Mattia Preti
  • Creator Lifespan: 1613/1699
  • Date Created: 1661-1666
  • Type: Drawing
  • Rights: Museum purchase through gift of various donors and from Eleanor G. Hewitt Fund
  • Medium: Brush and watercolor, black chalk on paper; verso: red chalk on paper
  • Inscribed: lower left in pen and brown ink: 26
  • Exhibitions: New York, Finch College Museum of Art, "The Two Sicilies, Drawings from the Cooper-Hewitt Museum", Feb.4-Mar.20, 1970. cat.no.14, repro.Valetta, The Palace, The Museum of St. John's Co-Cathedral, Apr.2-Jul.1,1970; Mattia Preti, XXII Council of Europe Exhibition, "The Order of St.John in Malta" pp.87-88
  • Dimensions: 31.1 x 22.6 cm (12 1/4 x 8 7/8 in.)
  • Bibliography: Naples, Museo di Capodimonte, "Disegni napoletani del sei e del settecento nel Museo di Capodimonte" 1966,p.20Florence, Uffizi, "Cento deisegni napoletani" 1967,.53.
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Get the app

Explore museums and play with Art Transfer, Pocket Galleries, Art Selfie, and more

Home
Discover
Play
Nearby
Favorites