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Icon "Beheading of John the Baptist", inv. no. Ж-1328: photo 1 of 5
Photo 1 of 5
Icon "Beheading of John the Baptist", inv. no. Ж-1328: photo 1 of 5
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Painting and graphics · Icons

Icon "Beheading of John the Baptist"

Inv. no. Ж-1328 · Painting and graphics

Project: Sloboda Ukraine Code. Church Antiquities

The icon shows a profile image of the severed head of John the Baptist, lying on a silver platter on a table covered with a red cloth. John the Baptist has long dark hair, a small beard and a mustache. His eyes are closed, and drops of blood run from his mouth onto his beard and the platter. Full description

Date
19th century
Material
Wood
Technique
Levkas, tempera, gilding
Dimensions
44.5 × 34.5 × 2 cm

Photo: M. F. Sumtsov Kharkiv Historical Museum · CC BY 4.0

Description

The icon shows a profile image of the severed head of John the Baptist, lying on a silver platter on a table covered with a red cloth. John the Baptist has long dark hair, a small beard and a mustache. His eyes are closed, and drops of blood run from his mouth onto his beard and the platter. Around the head is a halo in the form of golden radiating rays. In the upper left is a fragment of a green curtain. The icon's frame is worked in a golden relief floral ornament. At the top of the icon is the Church Slavonic inscription: "The Beheading of the Forerunner." On the reverse of the icon are grooves left by battens.

The icon was seized at the Chop customs post. It entered the museum by decision of the State Customs Committee of Ukraine and the National Committee for the Return of Cultural Property to Ukraine under the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine in 1995.

Record

Inventory number
Ж-1328
Title
Icon "Beheading of John the Baptist"
Collection group
Painting and graphics · Icons
Date
19th century
Material
Wood
Technique
Levkas, tempera, gilding
Dimensions
44.5 × 34.5 × 2 cm
Digitisation
Project “Sloboda Ukraine Code. Church Antiquities”, 2026
Tradition
Orthodoxy

Updated 15 Oct 2026

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