FEAST OF HEROD

   An episode from the life of St. John the Baptist. Herod married Herodias, his brother's wife, and the saint pointed out to them that their union was unlawful. Insulted, Herodias persuaded her husband to have the saint imprisoned. At a banquet, Salome, Herodias' daughter, danced for Herod so delightfully that Herod promised he would grant her anything she wished. After consulting with her mother, Salome asked for the head of the Baptist, which was granted. The feast of Herod is depicted in three scenes in Fra Filippo Lippi's frescoes in the choir of the Prato Cathedral (1452-1466). In the central scene, Salome dances for Herod, she receives the head of St. John on a platter on the left, and, on the right, she presents the platter to her mother while two servants huddle in horror. Benozzo Gozzoli painted the Feast of Herod and Beheading of St. John the Baptist (c. 1461-1462; Washington, National Gallery) on a single panel, and Donatello presented the episodes of the story in his relief for the baptismal font in the Cathedral of Siena (c. 1425) not side by side as in the painted examples, but rather one behind the other convincingly receding into space.