Beheading of John the Baptist

Niklaus Manuel's Beheading of John the Baptist, painted in 1517 and also held at the Kunstmuseum Basel, is a companion to his Judgement of Paris from the same year and demonstrates Manuel's range across religious and mythological subjects. The decapitation of John the Baptist — executed at the request of Salome, daughter of Herodias, after her dance before Herod — combined narrative drama, moral complexity, and the opportunity to depict a beautiful female figure alongside a scene of violence. Manuel treats the subject with the graphic intensity characteristic of Swiss and German painting of the period, where the Reformation's critique of image-making was already beginning to reshape the cultural environment.

The scene's inherent drama is amplified by Manuel's energetic draftsmanship and the sharp contrasts between the courtly figures and the horror of the decapitation. The figure of Salome or Herodias is rendered with particular attention to costume and aristocratic bearing.