Saint John Altarpiece (van der Weyden)

The Saint John Altarpiece (German: Johannesaltar, Johannestafel or Johannesretabel) is triptych of c. 1455 in oils on oak panel by the Early Netherlandish painter Rogier van der Weyden, now in the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin.

[2] The panels show – from left to right – the birth of Saint John the Baptist, his baptism of Christ in the River Jordan, and his beheading, with Salome receiving the disembodied head on a plate.

In reply, the angel identified himself as Gabriel, sent by God, and stated that because of Zechariah's doubt he would be struck dumb and "not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed".

By including the Virgin, Rogier strays from the Gospel account of the scene, referring instead to the apocryphal version popularised by the Golden Legend and the Meditations on the Life of Christ, both of which have Mary presenting the infant John the Baptist.

Erwin Panofsky suggests that Rogier might have been influenced by Andrea Pisano's relief The Naming of the Baptist at the Florence Baptistery, which shows a similar scene of Mary presenting to Zechariah, who sits holding a pen and scroll.

The dove is accompanied by, in the art historian Barbara Lane's words, a "gracefully curving inscription" taken from Matthew 17:5, which reads "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.

[12] John's limp body lies at the foot of the stairs, blood pumping from the neck, as the executioner, still holding his sword, hands the head to Salome on a golden charger.

[12] The art historian Victoria Reed agrees with this analysis, noting that John's head has become a eucharistic symbol, and that "by receiving it, Salome takes the part of the Christian communicant".

It is thought to have been commissioned by a Spanish donor; there is compelling evidence that it is the same work described in the Carthusian monastery of Santa Maria de las Cuevas in Seville.

José Martín Rincón in 1744 wrote of a "portable oratory" showing the Baptism of Christ, flanked by scenes of John's birth and beheading, though he attributed this work to Albrecht Dürer.

[14] Panofsky dates the altarpiece to after 1450, based on the similarity of the left-hand panel to Andrea Pisano's relief; Rogier may have seen it during his visit to Italy that year.