Plaque with the Head of Saint John the Baptist on a Charger

School of Nottingham

15th century · Alabaster with paint and gilding · Medieval Art

John the Baptist, who recognized Christ as the "the Lamb of God,… who taketh away the sin of the world,"(John 1:23) was beheaded on Herod's orders. This relief depicts the relic of John's head, which was kept in Amiens Cathedral. Doubling as a halo, the charger stands against a flowering meadow, an evocation of Paradise. Other English alabaster carvings with this subject survive as the centerpieces of triptychs. The well-preserved original paint of this relief suggests that it too was originally part of such an ensemble.

Artist

School of Nottingham

Date

15th century

Medium

Alabaster with paint and gilding

Culture

British

Department

Medieval Art

Credit line

Rogers Fund, 1913