# St John Altarpiece \(left wing\) [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [MASSYS, Quentin]() - Date: 1451-1500 - Technique: Oil on wood ## Commentary The left wing shows Salome offering the head of St John the Baptist to Herod. In this panel every face bears the stamp of evil. Herodias uses the tip of her knife to make her mark in the saint's forehead; she is presented as the perfect courtesan untrustworthy and vindictive. Herod himself, with his thick lips, hooked nose and narrowed eyes, even seems a little frightened by what he has just done. The whole panel is marked by an extraordinary sense of profane pleasure in such a sumptuous display of rich colours. ## Related artworks - [Christ on the Cross with Donors \(detail\)]() - [Christ on the Cross with Donors]() - [Ecce Homo \(detail\)]() - [Ecce Homo \(detail\)]() - [Ecce Homo]() - [Ecce Homo]() - [Entombment]() - [John the Baptist and St Agnes]() - [Madonna of the Cherries \(detail\)]() - [Madonna of the Cherries]() - [Man with Glasses \(detail\)]() - [Man with Glasses]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()