Gods, Myths and Heroes - Part 34

John the Baptist

John the Baptist actually existed.  However, that didn't stop the authors of the Gospels and others from inventing myths about him.  Above, Study for a Youthful St. John the Baptist by Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1480, is one of the earliest artistic representations of him.

Above, John the Baptist in the Wilderness by Guido Sanuto, 1545-1555.  Three of the Gospels say that John spent time in the wilderness, an appealing subject for artists.  Naked in the wilderness!  Never mind that two of the Gospels say that John was clothed in camel's hair.

Youth With a Ram by Caravaggio, 1602, is also called Saint John the Baptist on the flimsy pretext that the ram might be a sacrificial ram and thus refer to the sacrifice of Jesus, and the grape leaves, which produce grapes which produce red-colored wine, might refer to Jesus' blood.  In any case, it was an excuse to paint a naked youth.

Saint John the Baptist by Joseph Marie Vien, 1747, appears to be sitting on the edge of a bench or a bed, certainly not in the wilderness.  Maybe this is supposed to be John imprisoned by King Herod.  Herod actually did imprison and execute John, according to the 1st century Roman-Jewish historian Josephus, who is a somewhat reliable source, unlike the Gospels, which are mostly fairy tales.

This statue is St. John the Baptist Preaching by Rodin, 1902.  John is unfortunately wearing a fig leaf ...

But we have this photo of Rodin's model Gaudenzio Marconi posing for the statue.

In this 1932 painting, St. John the Baptist by Karoly Kernstok, John is naked, but having him under a fruit tree somehow doesn't look much like the wilderness.

In some (but not all) of the gospels, John the Baptist baptized Jesus, as portrayed in Big Baptism by Marc DeBauch, 2006.  DeBauch includes some traditional religious symbolism here (the dove above Jesus, John's staff in the form of a cross, foreshadowing what will happen), but the rest of the imagery is more in line with DeBauch's usual gay erotic art.

We end with the story of Salome, the daughter of King Herod's wife Herodias.  According to legend, Salome danced the dance of the seven veils before the king, pleasing him so much that he offered her anything she wanted.  She demanded the head of John the Baptist, which was delivered to her on a platter.  Needless to say, this sensational story, partly told in the gospel of Mark, is a fairy tale.  The gospels are not credible historical sources.  The only credibly documented part of the story is from the historian Josephus, who said that Herod did have John the Baptist put to death, and Herodias did have a daughter named Salome.  Nothing about Salome dancing for Herod, and nothing about the head on a platter.

We're not interested in the dance of the seven veils in this blog, but the staging of the opera Salome by Richard Strauss at Covent Garden in 2008 featured an executioner, played by Duncan Meadows, above, who enters the stage stark naked carrying the head of the Baptist (not on a platter) and presents it to Salome.