The Beheading of St. John the Baptist

By 1500 or so, Antwerp – whose liberal mercantile policies had allowed it to rise rapidly already in the 15th century as a serious competitor to Bruges and Ghent – had developed into the largest harbour and trading town in all of northern Europe. The membership lists of the painters’ guild show that artists streamed into Antwerp from all over, that a large number of studios were in operation there, and that vigorous artistic exchange took place between workshops. No longer were artworks produced
in accordance with the wishes of individual commissioning clients, but instead in order to generate an inventory designed to cater to the tastes and requirements of a broad stratum of purchasers, as well as to supply the export trade with paintings.
Produced in the workshops of numerous masters, the majority known today only under “notnamen”, were devotional images as well as altarpieces decorated with sculpture and painting, which were exported to destinations ranging from Scandinavia to Portugal. Belonging to this group of artists, who worked in Antwerp in the early 16th century, treating pictorial themes in continually novel variations
(as suggested by their “notnamen”), were among others the Master of the Antwerp Adoration, the Master of the Martyrdom of John the Baptist, the Master of 1518, and the Master of the Munich Adoration, also known under the name Pseudo-Bles. The last-named master, who was responsible for the Adoration of the Magi, which bears the false signature “Henricus Blesius” and is now in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich, stands out from this throng of anonymous artists, who are referred to collectively as the Antwerp Mannerists. The panel depicting the Beheading of Saint John the Baptist – another work that stands out clearly from the average production by virtue of its high quality – can be attributed to the same artist.
Forming the fantastical backdrop for the execution scene is an open square that is delimited on the left and rear by tall, looming buildings featuring round towers, columns, and narrow windows. The viewer is confronted by the executioner with the sword in his hand, Salome, accompanied by two female servants, and the decapitated head of John the Baptist, which lies on a silver dish. Lying on the floor is
the body of the beheaded saint. Streams of blood spurt from the stump of the neck. Standing next to it is a splendidly armed soldier who engages in conversation with two men, one of whom carries a falcon on one hand. Visible in the background is John the Baptist, who has been bound and is being led by the executioner and a soldier to his place of execution. In the open hall of the palace, Salome performs
a dance before Herod, at whose conclusion she will demand the death of John the Baptist. On the far right, we glimpse a mountainous landscape with men standing around a fire. Apparently, the scene illustrates the burning of the bones of John the Baptist, carried out subsequently on orders from the Emperor Julian the Apostate.
The brilliant colours of this virtuoso composition, the elaborate architectural setting, and the fantastical costumes testify to the superior technical abilities of this artist. All of these elements, along with a preference for the artificial poses and elongated proportions of the figures, are characteristic features of the art of the Antwerp Mannerists, who sought to integrate the formal traits of the late Gothic and Renaissance styles.| 200 Masterpieces of European Painting – Gemäldegalerie Berlin, 2019