John the Baptist from the Prevalence of Ritual Suite

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Romare Bearden, John the Baptist from the Prevalence of Ritual Suite, 1974, screenprint, image: 31 x 37 ¹⁄₂ in. (78.7 x 95.3 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Byron Lewis, 2009.42.5

Artwork Details

Title: John the Baptist from the Prevalence of Ritual Suite
Artist: Romare Bearden
Date: 1974
Location: Not on view
Dimensions: image: 31 x 37 ¹⁄₂ in. (78.7 x 95.3 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Byron Lewis
Mediums Description: screenprint
Classifications: Graphic Arts
Print
Subjects: Religion — saint — St. John the Baptist
Object Number: 2009.42.5
Linked Open Data: https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/2009.42.5

Artwork Description

For a series of prints called the Prevalence of Ritual, Bearden reconfigured age-old stories as allegories of modern life. In John the Baptist he drew on the biblical story of Salome, who had performed a dance for King Herod that so pleased him he offered to grant anything she might ask. At her mother’s urging the young girl requested the head of John the Baptist, who had spoken out against her mother’s marriage to the king. The masklike heads of the figures in John the Baptist blend West African and Egyptian visual traditions with a narrative about vengeance and naïveté.

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