Salome Receives the Head of John the Baptist, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, 1609-1610. The National Gallery, London, England.
Questions
-What do you see? What stands out to you?
-Who do you think each of these people are in this painting? What are they thinking, feeling, doing?
-Do you remember why St. John the Baptist died? Why did his death have to be this way?
Reflection
St. John the Baptist has always been a saint that sneaks up on me. For all the powerful saints that we have in the Catholic Church, St. John the Baptist seems to me as the most unapproachable. After our Blessed Mother and St. Joseph, I think he would be next in line as the greatest saint. Jesus Himself said it in Matthew 11:11, "Amen, I say to you, among those born of women there has been none greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he."
How is that for a saint to live up to? And yet, my husband and I chose him to be the patron saint of our family. We chose him because he is the martyr for marriage.
King Herod arrested John because of his disapproval of the King's marriage to his brother's divorced wife, Herodias. John reminded the King that, "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife." The Mosaic law did not allow adultery, which the King and Herodias were committing since she was divorced. St. John knew the Mosaic law but he was also acting in anticipation of the teaching that divorce in itself was wrong and that marriage unifies totally and for the rest of Earthly life. Although King Herod had John arrested, he did not want to kill him. In the Gospel of Mark we are even told that King Herod was interested in what John had to say, although he did not understand John's teaching.
So how did John end up being beheaded? Herodias had a daughter, Salome, who pleased King Herod during a banquet. He offered to give Salome anything she wanted as a reward, and Herodias took this as a chance to influence Salome and request the head of John the Baptist. The King did not want to do this, but he did it because he promised. I often feel bad for King Herod and I see a foreshadowing of Pontius Pilate within this story. Neither of these men really desired to kill the man who was in front of them and they felt the truth in their hearts. Peer pressure and fear was enough to extinguish any chance for them to do the right thing, instead sending a holy man to his death. There have been several times when I have let peer pressure or fear stop me from doing the right thing. It may have not ended with a holy man dying, but I am sure that the Lord wishes that I had the courage to be more like Him in perfection.
The statement of John's about unlawful marriages ends up being the last thing that we hear from him in the Gospels. This is no insignificant thing. John the Baptist died because he stood up for the law that God created, he stood up to defend the sanctity of marriage. The Lord desires for marriage to be a place of sanctification, of care, of becoming a domestic Church. John was known as the forerunner to Christ and even his own family took part in that role. The forerunners to the holy family of Mary, Joseph and Jesus was Elizabeth, Zechariah and John. The power of good marriages can revolutionize a family, parish, community, nation, and even the world. Several children are losing the experience of having a strong, holy marriage of their parents while several adults choose not to enter into the sacrament at all. This is to the detriment of our entire society and is a deep wound in many of our hearts. Although it seems like marriage is broken and hard to attain, the Lord still calls many to marriage. He would not have called you to marriage if He did not want you and your spouse to succeed, become holier, and unite yourselves to Him in a more perfect way. John the Baptist laid down his life for marriage and I like to think that he was thinking of his own parents when he did so.
Another aspect that comes up for me is why Herodias wanted John the Baptist killed. Being a woman and knowing the womanly heart, I think Herodias wanted to have the affirmation that King Herod would do anything for her. She was probably living with some doubt that He actually cared for her and her children. John speaking against her unlawful marriage hit a tender, insecure part of her heart. We too often shy away from the truth that touches wounds in our own hearts and lives. We do not want to hear the truth and when it is told to us by someone of authority, it hurts even more. She also most likely had some jealousy because King Herod would have had many wives. There is an innate desire to be monogamous - to be joined with only one other human. There is security in a singular union that is powerful and the way God made us to be.
Information
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610), more commonly known as just Caravaggio, is a star of the Baroque art style. His style is easily recognizable and often copied with the intense realism and chiaroscuro. Chiaroscuro is an artistic technique that uses strong contrast of light and dark to create drama and dimension within pieces. Caravaggio uses this technique to draw attention to the people in his paintings, not giving us anything else to look at other than the subjects. It draws you in to think about who each person is, their thoughts, feelings, actions - really snapshotting a moment in time.
Caravaggio is also unique because he used real people off the streets as models in his works. He would grab the homeless, the underrepresented, the prostitutes, the poor, the everyday people off the streets and pose them as important biblical figures in his paintings. This may be a jarring idea, but the more reflection you give to it, the more powerful it becomes. Although Caravaggio was not a holy man himself, I believe that this was something that was inspired by the Holy Spirit. Caravaggio saw the possibility for the lowest of society to be the greatest of biblical figures. How often do we ourselves think the absolute opposite about those in front of us that we see or believe are lesser? How often do we see even ourselves as able to being great biblical figures? We live in the age of the Church, the living Kingdom of God on Earth. So often we do not have the heavenly vision to see Christ within others or Christ within ourselves. Jesus Christ called the whole of humanity to be like Him, to be a great saint - we must pray for eyes to see others as that potential great saint, no matter where they are at now.
This painting is a later work of Caravaggio, as it was painted in 1609-10 which were the last two years of his life. His later works were intensified in the chiaroscuro style, honing in on the human person. He spends less time and detail on the clothing and more on the psychological presence of the subjects. Looking deeply at the faces of each person in this painting shows a serious and hard to read Salome, holding the platter. She cannot even look at the head of St. John the Baptist, she looks away almost in denial that this is what she has requested be done. Her one hand does not even touch the platter, she holds it with a cloth. Salome wants to separate herself from being the cause of this death, perhaps this suggests that she denies that his blood is on her hands and a stain on her conscience. The maidservant behind her is very troubled, with her hands in a nervous wringing of her hands. Perhaps she was a secret follower of St. John? The executioner holding St. John the Baptist's head does not look proud, he holds an almost stern look and grip on St. John's hair that his job is done.
More Questions
-Do you like this style of art? What do or don't you like about it?
-What simple truth do you feel compelled to stand up for? Is the Lord calling you to share it like St. John the Baptist?
-Is there a truth that is hard for you to accept right now? What wound needs to be healed for you to fully accept it?
-What happens in our lives oftentimes feels out of our control, like St. John being beheaded out of request instead of out of reason. Yet, he accepted it peacefully and without a fight. What is something in your life that you feel like you have no control, but the Lord wants you to accept it instead of fight it?
Let us pray -
Heavenly Father, thank you for giving us St. John the Baptist as the forerunner to your Son, Jesus Christ. Please help us to stand up for the truth of your laws that you have placed in our hearts and your Church. Be near us as we work to heal our wounds that keep up from fully embracing your truth, especially around the sanctity of marriage. Strengthen the marriages in our lives so that they may reflect the love between Christ and the Church.
St. John the Baptist, pray for us!
Amen.
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