Scenes from the Life of Saint John the Baptist: Predella Panels

This is the predella of a multi-panelled altarpiece that shows Saint John the Baptist in its central panel, baptising Christ in the river Jordan. The predella runs along the bottom of the main tier of images.The scene furthest left is the only painting in our collection to show the moment that the Archangel Gabriel told Zacharias, John’s father, that he and his wife Elizabeth would have a child (even though they were elderly). According to the Gospel of Luke (Luke 1: 5–23) this took place in the temple where Zacharias had gone to make an offering. He was on duty as a priest, and it was his turn to burn incense at the altar – we can see him here, dressed in green, swinging a thurible of incense. Gabriel has appeared to announce that Elizabeth will conceive, and that their son will preach about the coming of Jesus. Zacharias was so surprised that he doubted Gabriel’s word; the angel left him unable to speak as punishment.The next scene shows Gabriel’s words coming true: Elizabeth is in bed after giving birth. Two maids seated in front of the bed prepare to bathe the baby; two more attend to Elizabeth behind the bed, bringing food and water for washing. The details of this event do not come from the Bible but it resembles images of the birth of the Virgin Mary.The right-hand section of the predella shows John’s death, which is described in the Gospel of Matthew. John’s head, balanced on a platter, is presented to King Herod at a banquet. According to the biblical account, Herod offered to reward Salome, his step-daughter (shown standing in front of the table) for her dancing. On her mother’s advice she asked for the head of John the Baptist. At the far left we see John’s body. On the far right, Salome presents the platter to her mother, shown wearing a crown.These two paintings are closely based on a version of the scenes by the early fourteenth-century Florentine painter, Giotto, painted in fresco for the Peruzzi chapel in the church of Santa Croce, Florence. It seems very likely – especially as the once-continuous panel has been cut in the middle – that there was another scene in the centre of these two, now missing. It may have shown the naming of John the Baptist (which we also see in Giovanni di Paolo’s predella panel) or the Adoration of the Kings, which shares a feast day with the baptism of Christ (6 January).At either end of the predella are two standing saints. On the left is Saint Benedict and on the right is Saint Romuald, the founder of the Camaldolese order of monks; this altarpiece was made for one of their monasteries. Romuald was a hermit and here carries the T-shaped staff traditionally associated with hermits. The Camaldolese Order was a branch of the Benedictines, founded by Saint Benedict, explaining his inclusion in the predella.