In a bare prison yard the executioner pins John to the ground and reaches for a knife to finish the killing, while a jailer points and a servant girl holds out a golden dish for the head. Painted in Malta for the Knights of St John, it is Caravaggio's largest altarpiece. Months later he was expelled from the order in front of this same canvas.
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Caravaggio's only known signature is written in the blood flowing from John's neck. At right, two prisoners watch through a barred window.
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