Saint John Altarpiece (van der Weyden)

The Saint John Altarpiece (German: Johannesaltar, Johannestafel or Johannesretabel) is triptych of c. 1455 in oils on oak panel by the Early Netherlandish painter Rogier van der Weyden, now in the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin.^[1] The triptych is linked to the artist's earlier Miraflores Altarpiece in its symbolic motifs, format and intention.^[2]

The panels show – from left to right – the birth of Saint John the Baptist, his baptism of Christ in the River Jordan, and his beheading, with Salome receiving the disembodied head on a plate. Each panel is set within painted archivolts, which contain painted reliefs depicting statuettes of the Apostles,^[3] and scenes from the lives of both Christ and Saint John, with the overall theme of salvation. The fictive sculptural reliefs are painted in grisaille, and give the impression that the scenes are set within a church.^[4]

There are two extant versions of the altarpiece, almost equal in size, leading to complexities in establishing attribution and authenticity. The version in Berlin is considered the original, that in Frankfurt a near-contemporary copy.