This cheery little number was painted in the fifteenth century in the Tuscan area of Italy, later becoming part of the collection owned by King Carol I of Romania. I assume that the viewer of the artwork is meant to appreciate the sacrifice made by St. John the Baptist when he was killed by Herod Antipas, but it’s all a bit unpleasant for my liking.
Caravaggio painted a well known artwork on the same subject, which is in St. John’s Cathedral in Valletta, Malta, but at least that one is a little less dramatic in terms of the head being cut off. Unfortunately, as with many other artworks in this gallery, there’s nearly no background information to the painting.