The beheading of St John the Baptist

The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist, painted around 1640, addresses one of the most violent subjects in Christian art with the unflinching directness characteristic of the Caravaggist tradition. Stom's Sicilian patrons favored such dramatic martyrdom scenes, which allowed the full deployment of tenebrism's theatrical lighting effects to heighten the scene's horror and spiritual intensity. Stom's mastery of candlelight effects was among the most technically accomplished of all Caravaggist painters, surpassing many of his contemporaries in the subtlety of his graduated shadows and the warmth of his artificial illumination.

The brutal subject is rendered with Stom's characteristic stark contrast between illuminated flesh and surrounding darkness, the executioner's raised sword catching the light at the moment before the stroke. The composition concentrates the action in a tight foreground grouping.