Beheading of John the Baptist

The Baroque movement originated in Italy in the late1500's and was later accepted by France, Germany, Netherlands and Spain. "This art period was a reaction against the formulaic Mannerist style which was the dominant form during the late Renaissance. Baroque style is more realistic and emotional than the complex Mannerist style" (Kramer). The movement was greatly encouraged by the Catholic Church because it marked a return to tradition and spirituality. Baroque works of art were dramatic, emotional and included real people as the primary subject. It was during this time that art was created to appeal to the average person's sense of emotion. Strong contrasts of light and shadow enhance the dramatic effects of many paintings and sculptures. Famous artist who greatly contributed to the Baroque period include Caravaggio, Annibale Carracci, Gianlorenzo Bernini, Rubens, Rembrandt, Velázquez, and Vermeer. Caravaggio was an Italian baroque painter, who was the best exemplar of naturalistic painting in the early 17th century. "His use of models from the lower classes of society in his early secular works and later religious compositions appealed to the Counter Reformation taste for realism, simplicity, and piety in art. Equally important is his introduction of dramatic light-and-dark effects-termed chiaroscuro-into his works" (Kren). The Counter - Reformation was the movement within the Roman Catholic Church in the 16th and 17th centuries that tried to eliminate abuses within that church and to respond to the Protestant Reformation. During the Counter- Reformation, in 1608 Caravaggio finished his painting entitled The Beheading of John the Baptist. Through the use of subject matter, formal elements and the content in the painting, Caravaggio was able to produce a masterpiece.

In Caravaggio's painting of The Beheading of John the Baptist there are a number of elements of Counter- Reformation subject matter. Counter- Reformation subject matter was important to the painters as it was a time in which dramatic tension and suffering were used in many paintings. "Caravaggio painted many religious themed paintings in a commonplace, everyday tavern, using peasant low-lives as subject matter. Rubens and Caravaggio together have many characteristics of the Baroque period. They also add the freedom of expression in their paintings" (Janson). Caravaggio uses emotionalism, anatomy, and nature to clearly display the subject matter. Emotionalism and anatomy can be clearly seen in each of the seven characters represented in the painting. As John the Baptist is laying on the ground assumingly already dead or nearly dead, a guard is seen with one hand on John the Baptist's head, as the other hand is reaching for his knife. The viewer of the painting is able to see the anger in the guards eyes as he is about to perform the beheading John the Baptist. There are three more people to the left of the guard and