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According to Saint Luke's gospel in the New Testament of the Bible, Saint John the Baptist was the cousin of Jesus Christ and announced Christ's coming. He was imprisoned by Herod Antipas, ruler of Galilee, for speaking out in public against the morality of Herod Antipas's marriage to Herodias, the former wife of his half-brother Herod Philip. Herodias persuaded her daughter (unnamed in the gospel but traditionally called Salome) to ask her step-father and uncle Herod to give her the head of John the Baptist on a platter, which Herod reluctantly did.
Date
1640s (?)
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
H 116.9 x W 93.5 cm
Accession number
44824i
Acquisition method
purchased by Henry S. Wellcome, c.1900–1936
Work type
Painting
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