Oratory of St John the Beheaded

Map

Oratory of St John the Beheaded (Oratorio di San Giovanni Decollato)

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August 29th is the feast day of the Beheading of St John the Baptist. 
August 29th is the Feast Day of the Beheading of St John the Baptist. What is purported to be the skull of the saint is enshrined in the church of San Silvestro in Capite.

According to the New Testament, Herod Antipas, ruler of Galilee under the Roman Empire, imprisoned John because he had publicly reproved him for divorcing his first wife and unlawfully marrying Herodias, who had been his brother’s wife. As punishment, Herod ordered John's beheading. 

​The small Oratorio di San Giovanni Decollato (Oratory of St John the Beheaded), one of Rome's many hidden secrets, is decorated with a series of frescoes (1538-41) depicting scenes from the life of St John the Baptist.

The frescoes are mostly the work of two Florentine artists: Jacopino del Conte (1510-98), who also painted the altarpiece of the Deposition of Christ, and Francesco Salviati (1510-63). 

• Related post: confraternity of San Giovanni Decollato.

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Frescoes on the Entrance Wall