Herod's Banquet

Herod gives a party and tells his stepdaughter Salome she can have whatever she wants. Her mother Herodias tells her to ask for the head of John the Baptist, who had been arrested by Herod. John had complained about Herod's marriage to Herodias, which he considered to be adulterous.

Ghirlandaio shows a dancing Salome at the moment John's head is presented.

This fresco is part of the series Ghirlandaio made in the Tornabuoni family chapel in the church of Santa Maria Novella in Florence. All works in this series are about the life of John the Baptist.

• The Angel appears to Zechariah
• The visitation
• Birth of the Baptist
• Zechariah writes John's Name
• The Preaching of the Baptist
• John Baptises Jesus
• Herod's Banquet