{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O332698"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O332698/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AH2468/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AH2468/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006AH2468","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O332698/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O332698","accessionNumber":"219-1874","objectType":"Medallion","titles":[{"title":"Herod and Herodias with the Head of St. John the Baptist","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"This small medallion was made by an unidentified enameller in Limoges, Central France, in the first quarter of the 16th century. It is a rare example of a bronze plaquette model being transposed to enamel. It depicts King Herod Antipas and his wife Herodias with the head of St. John the Baptist on a platter, an event described in the Bible in the Gospel of Mark, chapter 6, verses 17-28.","physicalDescription":"Small circular copper medallion painted in polychrome enamels with the subject of Herod and Herodias with the Head of St. John the Baptist. Herodias, in profile on the left, holds a knife against the forehead of St. John’s decapitated head, before her on a platter. Herod faces her on the right. The scene is framed by a ring of small white enamel droplets, and the medallion has a copper alloy rim frame with hook. According to the Gospel of Mark (ch.6, vv. 17-28), King Herod Antipas, having divorced his first wife in order to marry Herodias, wife of his half-brother, Herod Philip, imprisoned John the Baptist for denouncing the marriage as unlawful. Herodias resented John for this and sought an opportunity to have him killed. When her daughter (unnamed in the New Testament but usually identified with Salome by association with a reference in Josephus’ ‘History of the Jews’), danced for Herod at this birthday banquet, he vowed to reward her by granting any wish. Her mother encouraged her to demand the head of John on a platter, a request that Herod was obliged to fulfill.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"unidentified","id":"A3370"},"association":{"text":"maker","id":"x40240"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"Copper","id":"AAT11020"},{"text":"enamel","id":"AAT14910"},{"text":"copper alloy","id":"AAT10942"}],"techniques":[{"text":"enamelled","id":"x30139"},{"text":"painted","id":"x30138"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Painted polychrome enamel on copper in a copper alloy frame.","categories":[{"text":"Enamels","id":"THES48876"},{"text":"Medallions","id":"THES49034"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"CER","id":"THES48594"},"images":["2006AH2468"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"014","id":"THES399702"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Medallion","id":"x31798"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Limoges","id":"x32604"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca.1500-25","earliest":"1500-01-01","latest":"1525-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Diameter","value":"8","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"15/11/2016","earliest":"2016-11-15","latest":"2016-11-15"},"part":"","note":"Measured"}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"Purchased from the John Webb Collection in 1874. This is a rare example of a Limoges enamel subject which has been transposed from a bronze plaquette model.","historicalContext":"It seems doubtful, given its gory subject matter, that this medallion was made as a pendant to be worn. Perhaps it was hung within a cabinet of miniatures in a domestic setting.","briefDescription":"Herod and Herodias with the head of John the Baptist, painted in polychrome enamels on copper, unidentified artist, Limoges, France, ca.1500-25. ","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Giuseppe Toderi et al., 'Placchetti: secoli XV-XVIII nel Museo nazionale del Bargello', Florence, 1996"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Sophie Baratte, Les Emaux peints de Limoges, Paris, Musée du Louvre, 2000"}],"production":"For an enamelled roundel with similar subject matter and painted in Limoges at a similar date by a different artist, see C.2377-1910.","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[{"text":"St. John the Baptist","id":"N450"},{"text":"Herod Antipas","id":"N1534"},{"text":"Herodias","id":"N489"}],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["219-1874"],"accessionNumberNum":"219","accessionNumberPrefix":"","accessionYear":1874,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-08-19","recordCreationDate":"2009-06-24","availableToBook":true}}