A central scene is framed by massive blue pilasters with green inserts terminating in red capitals and bases adorned with cherub’s heads. Two green volutes above meet at a red keystone which holds a satyr’s head. Below, rhymed couplets under the arch refer to John’s death and to Christ miracles. The executioner is about to commence the downward stroke while the saint kneels, back exposed and bound hands lifted in a praying position. John’s acceptance of his martyrdom is found in the Gospels (Matthew 11:1-11 and 14:1-12). To the back and left, Salome, in seventeenth-century dress with white neck ruff and overskirt opened to show a patterned underskirt, waits with her platter. An architectural background suggests that the scene takes place on a parapet or in a courtyard in Herod’s palace. Above is a scene of a prosperous farm with farm workers driving milk cows. On the left, one of the workers has a transport bucket strapped to his side and a milking bucket in his hand. Below, to left and right, two oval wreaths frame heraldic shields held by angels. The dedication plate is between them.

The panel is in stable condition with excellent retention of paint. When it entered the museum’s collection, the inscription was missing a small sliver in the upper cartouche. It has since been renewed by adding an infill of white glass and completing the inscription with unfired paint. The completion is not correct; the restorer has written Me[re] instead of Meer, and anrūh[ren] instead of anrūhrt. There appear to be no other losses to the panel.

The image of the beheading of John the Baptist honors the name saint of the patron, Hans Schällibaum; Hans is a diminutive of Johann. Toggenburg’s history during the Reformation was unusual. At first, aligning itself with the followers of Zwingli, the region declared itself independent in 1530. The powerful Abbot of St. Gall worked aggressively against this decision and 1538 regained his authority. This, however, was short-lived and he was soon forced to grant tolerance to both confessions. Thus, Toggenburg bears a history of being one of the few regions of Switzerland where Catholicism and Protestantism were mutually respected well before this panel was commissioned. It is difficult to assign religious affiliation for the couple, although the depiction of a name-saint might be an indication of a Catholic affiliation. A Protestant donator would more likely to have chosen figures from the Old Testament or allegories.

Compositional parallels are consistent with a Toggenburg origin. The John the Baptist panel in the Hermitage Museum of fourteen years earlier (No. B 215, CTEKAO 1; Raguin, 2024, vol. 1, 200, LACMA 38/fig.1; Shlikevich, 2010, 76-77, cat. no. 26) shows an identical core arrangement: pilasters at the side decorated with vertical inserts; capitals, bases, and a central architrave of flashed and abraded red glass with masks or other ornament; volutes on either side of the central architrave. The position of John and the executioner is identical, even to the folds of the saint’s camel-hair garment. The Hermitage panel shows numerous interventions, but the inclusion of Herod’s banquet beyond John’s head is authentic. This differs from the Los Angles architectural backdrop and the inclusion of Salome on the left. A scene of the Good Samaritan painted in 1599 for Levi Grob, a citizen of the city of Lichtensteig (Raguin, 2024, vol. 1, 201, LACMA38/fig. 2; Historisches Museum St. Gallen; Boesch, 1935, pp. 27–28, fig 5, no. 46; Egli, 1925, pp. 45–46, no. 94) shows a similar format and in the upper narratives, where the men and cattle dominate the landscape. Other Toggenburg panels show similar framing motifs. The wreath found around the angels holding the heraldic devices in the Los Angles panel enjoyed a long tradition among Toggenburg glass painters. It is found in the panel of Martin Steger and Margreth Büchler presumably of 1646 (Boesch, 1935, 60, no. 155; Bergmann, 2004, 340–41, no. 136).

Cited in:
Seligmann sale, 1947, p. 120, no. 390.
Hayward, 1989),p.75.
Raguin, 2024, vol. 1, pp. 200–203.