Hand Painted Religious Icon with Gilded Details, signed verso, 30 x 20 cm.
 
The icon depicts St. John the Baptist, cousin Christ, and perhaps his most important disciple. In religious iconography John the Baptist is often depicted whole, holding his own head in his left hand, a reference to his death and sainthood. According to the synoptic Gospels, Herod had imprisoned John the Baptist because he reproved Herod for divorcing his wife and unlawfully taking Herodias, the wife of his brother Herod Philip I. On Herod's birthday, Herodias' daughter, Salome, danced before the king and his guests. Her dancing pleased Herod so much that he promised to give her anything she desired. When Salome asked her mother what she should request, she was told to ask for the head of John the Baptist on a platter. 
 
Some damage can be seen in the images, this has since been fully restored.