The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist

Giovanni di Paolo · 1455–60

Medium

Tempera on panel

Original size

68.6 × 39.1 cm (27 × 15 3/8 in.); Framed: 82 × 53.4 × 7 cm (32 1/4 × 21 × 2 3/4 in.)

Currently held

Art Institute of Chicago

Movement

Italian Renaissance

Giovanni di Paolo's depiction of the beheading of Saint John captures the moment of martyrdom with the precise, almost eerie stillness that defines his singular vision of sacred drama. Working in Siena during the mid-fifteenth century, Giovanni di Paolo belonged to a generation pulled between Gothic tradition and the rising tide of Renaissance naturalism — and he chose his own path entirely. His figures are elongated and expressive, set against flat gold-leafed backgrounds and jewel-bright architectural spaces that feel less like the physical world than a realm of pure spiritual intensity. The tempera on panel medium suited him perfectly, allowing the clean, luminous colour and fine linear detail his compositions demanded. This panel was originally part of a larger predella sequence devoted to the life of Saint John the Baptist, several panels of which are now held across major collections including the Art Institute of Chicago, where this work resides. A hand-painted oil reproduction translates that concentrated visual energy into a format built to last — preserving the crisp silhouettes, the saturated palette, and the haunting stillness of the original in a medium that rewards close looking across generations.