The Feast of Herod

This is one of Donatello's earliest relief sculptures, and his first bronze relief. The sculpture is noted for Donatello's use of perspective. The piece is 60 by 61 centimeters. 

The scene depicted in Donatello's Feast of Herod combines a few different elements commonly included in the Baptist cycle (the important events in the life of St. John the Baptist). In earlier depictions by other artists,  Salome's dance, the beheading of St. John, and the presentation of the head to King Herod, were separated into different scenes. Donatello brings these elements together, using continuous narrative (a type of narrative art that illustrates multiple scenes of a narrative within a single frame) to illustrate the scene and portray John’s martyrdom without explicitly showing the beheading.  Another way that Donatello's work differs from previous representations of the scene is the emotional expressiveness of the figures, as Herod and his companions react to the severed head as it is presented.  The addition of architectural elements allowed for the incorporation of linear perspective to the scene, which in turn brings attention to the important focal points and figures.  Donatello has the focal point lead to a "V" of open space, encouraging the eye to move across the panel to the two separate groupings, rather than focusing on any one element. The inclusion of linear perspective would later become a standard element in Renaissance painting and sculpture.  Another way that Donatello described the space in which the scene takes place was through his use of high and low relief. One technique that Donatello implemented in his Feast of Herod is the use of rilievo schiacciato, or shallow relief. Donatello used schiacciato carving to create atmospheric effect and to give the impression of greater depth. In order to create this depth, Donatello relied on the contrast between the low and high relief. The inclusion of low relief, in the architecture of the layered arches and in the background figures, allows for specific elements to appear farther away, while the high relief brings attention to the more highly detailed figures in the foreground, which seem to extend out into the viewer's space.

Many of Donatello’s most famous sculptures were done ‘in the round,’ but there are a few masterful works that were done in relief. One such sculpture is known as The Feast of Herod and is a depiction of the well-known Biblical story of the feast that was organized by the evil King Herod. 

According to the Bible account, Herod’s daughter, Salome, demanded the head of John the Baptist, which King Herod reluctantly agreed to provide.

Donatello’s relief sculpture portrays the moment when John the Baptist is being beheaded. Most historians and scholars believe the sculpture was done in 1427 and was one of the earliest relief works done by Donatello.

The sculpture depicts the beheading of John the Baptist after Salome asks Herod Antipas for his head on a platter. The scene depicts an executioner presenting the severed head, and Herod reacting in shock.