Hall of the Art Thieves
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The Beheading of Saint John

Picture
Artist: Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
Year Composed: 1608
Artistic Movement: Baroque
Nationality: Italy

Floor Found in Château: First Garden
About the Artwork
Painted on a canvas that measures 12 feet tall by 17 feet wide, Caravaggio's The Beheading of Saint John shows the gruesome martyrdom of Saint John the Baptist as he is beheaded in the street. Salome, the daughter of Herod II, is holding a golden platter that will carry the severed head of the apostle. Caravaggio depicts the moment of the martyrdom, the climactic scene filled with emotion and tension that gives viewers a grand, captivating sense of drama. The background (which is actually lighter in tone than most Caravaggio paintings) is darker than the figures in the foreground. Regarded as one of the most extreme masterpieces of not only the Baroque, but of all art history, The Beheading of Saint John is the only painting to contain Caravaggio's signature, which the artist renders in the spilled blood on the floor of the canvas.

About the Artist
Better known as just Caravaggio, this Italian painter rivaled the Carracci Brothers and their Academy for setting the aesthetic tone of Baroque art. His grand canvases were not only realistic in depicting figures, objects, and nature, but also dove into a person's emotion and soul. Caravaggio used the element of chiaroscuro (which is the technique to paint extreme light tones with extreme dark tones for a dramatic contrast) to express highly-dramatic and emotional scenes within his paintings. His drama and captivating grandeur can be seen within his Crucifixion of Saint Peter (1601), Judith Beheading Holofernes (1599), and the Calling of Saint Matthew (1600).
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About the Movement
The Beheading of Saint John was composed in the Baroque Age of art. After the Renaissance Age, Baroque art was encouraged and influenced by the Catholic Church and the Counter Reformation to bring citizens back to Catholicism from the simple and austere Protestantism. Baroque art tended to be highly decorative and extravagant, creating dramatic scenes and vivid narratives through its painting and sculpture. Some of the most famous Baroque artists included Gian Lorenzo Bernini, the Carracci Brothers (Annibale, Agostino, and Ludovico), Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, and Pietro da Cortona.
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​Location of Original Work of Art: Saint John's Co-Cathedral, Valletta, Malta

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Hall of the Art Thieves is Trademarked by the United States Patent & Trademark Office, 2019.
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