The head of St.John the Baptist - Aged Byzantine Icon

Aged-Wooden Byzantine Icon of the Head of Saint John the Baptist.

At a celebration in his honor, Herod Antipas, wanting to please his mistress, Herodias, promised to fulfill her every wish. Then, she urged her daughter Salome, who danced for Herod's sake, to ask that she be given the Head of Saint John the Baptist on a platter.

Despite his initial hesitation, Herod Antipas kept his promise and ordered the beheading of Saint John the Baptist.

Kontakion of Saint John the Baptist

The glorious beheading of the Forerunner, / became an act of divine dispensation, / for he preached to those in hell the coming of the Savior. / Let Herodias lament, for she entreated lawless murder, / loving not the law of God, nor eternal life, / but that which is false and temporal.

The aging technique is meticulously applied to the Icon by hand and gives it the look of time while the depiction retains its artistic details.

Around the perimeter, the aging becomes more apparent with frayed edges that give the Icon a distinctive appearance.

During the final processing, the Aged-Wooden Icon of the Head of Saint John the Baptist is polished with a special varnish to withstand time.

Note: The final Icon may slightly differ from the catalog photo.