The Beheading of St. John the Baptist

The painting typifies Caravaggio’s signature chiaroscuro technique which is described as Caravaggio going  so far in this style that he never showed any of his figures in open daylight, but instead found a way to place them in the darkness of a closed room, placing a lamp high so that the light would fall straight down, revealing the principal part of the body and leaving the rest in shadow.

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