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The Beheading of St. John the Baptist
Artist: Caravaggio
 1608    Painting

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This is Caravaggio's largest work and s widely seen as one of Caravaggio's greatest paintings. This work is notable as the only piece Caravaggio ever signed. The blood pouring from John's head oozes into the artist's centrally-positioned signature.

The figures are clustered together leaving large swathes of empty or less populated space above and adjacent to the focus of the action. As a consequence, although the artist imbues each actor with a unique emotion or response, individuality is subsumed to the collective illustration of the dramatic moment. The only figure who betrays a strong emotion in the image is the old woman. The artist's tenebrism relegates much of her face to shadow, but Caravaggio highlights her hands, grasping her head in horror. The old woman is the emotional corollary to the deceased St. John, and to the still calm of the other witnesses. The old woman's head, clasped in shock and dismay between her hands, represents the viewer's emotional entry into to the scene.

This painting is oil on canvas and is housed in St. John's Co-Cathedral, Valetta, Malta 

The Betrayal of Christ (The Kiss of Judas)
Artist: Giotto
 1304-06    Painting

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The fresco cycle by Giotto in the Cappella degli Scrovegni in Padua is one of the most important masterpieces of Western art. While the upper register depicts the story of Joachim and Anna, the parents of the Virgin Mary, the lower two registers of the chapel narrate the life and death of Christ. Giotto’s Betrayal of Christ is on the south wall. What perhaps distinguishes The Betrayal of Christ is Giotto’s singular emphasis upon the confrontation between Christ and Judas. Directly to the left of the two protagonists, Giotto places the figures of Peter and the soldier Malchus. According to scripture, Peter cut off Malchus’s ear in an uncharacteristic moment of rage. Christ, having miraculously healed the soldier, warned that those who live by the sword will ultimately perish by it. However, this scene assumes a secondary role in relation to the meeting between Christ and his traitor.

 

Earliest Images of Jesus

The Bible, its themes, events and characters, are the subject of many of mankind's finest works of art.

Here, we endeavor to present a myriad of examples from the history of art.

Most items will contain information about the particular piece, and/or the artist who created it. Also, many entries provide links that will take you to the Bible story to which the image is related.

Search by Category and/or Type, or click through the pages to view and study artwork of interest.

Click Images to Enlarge. Once open, images can be magnified by clicking within them or by dragging on right lower corner.

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