The Head of Saint John the Baptist

When the royal palace at Aranjuez was inventoried for Fernando VII between 1814 and 1818, this canvas was hanging in the room of the queen's ladies-in-waiting, and the clerk wrote it down together with its companion, the severed heads of Saint John the Baptist and Saint Paul. Both saints lost their heads, which is why they were painted as a pair and hung as a pair. The shape follows from the subject: the canvas is wider than it is tall, 50 centimetres by 77, so the head lies across it rather than facing the viewer. The same inventory lists a second pair, hanging in the queen's oratory, one of which the Prado also owns. The museum catalogues this one as attributed to Murillo, in the 17th century.