Bucharest – National Museum of Art (Beheading of St. John the Baptist)

This cheery little number was painted in the fifteenth century in the Tuscan area of Italy, later becoming part of the collection owned by King Carol I of Romania. I assume that the viewer of the artwork is meant to appreciate the sacrifice made by St. John the Baptist when he was killed by Herod Antipas, but it’s all a bit unpleasant for my liking.

Caravaggio painted a well known artwork on the same subject, which is in St. John’s Cathedral in Valletta, Malta, but at least that one is a little less dramatic in terms of the head being cut off. Unfortunately, as with many other artworks in this gallery, there’s nearly no background information to the painting.