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Salome with the Head of Saint John the Baptist

Large painting of woman, in gold and pink dress, placing severed head on platter.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • Large painting of woman, in gold and pink dress, placing severed head on platter.

Date:

c. 1639–42

Artist:

Guido Reni
Italian, 1575-1642

About this artwork

This painting depicts Salome as she receives the head of John the Baptist on a platter, the gruesome reward she chose for having pleased her stepfather, Herod, by performing a seductive dance. This episode from the New Testament had long been popular in Italian art, thanks to its combination of religiosity, violence, and eroticism. The most famous and successful Italian painter of his day, Guido Reni worked in Rome and then in Bologna, where his highly refined style and intensely spiritual subjects dominated. Despite its horrific subject matter, this unfinished work displays the graceful movement, delicate colors, and transparent paint application of Reni’s late style.

Status

On View, Gallery 211

Department

Painting and Sculpture of Europe

Artist

Guido Reni

Title

Salome with the Head of Saint John the Baptist

Place

Italy (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1635–1645

Medium

Oil on canvas

Dimensions

248.5 × 174 cm (97 3/4 × 68 1/2 in.)

Credit Line

Louise B. and Frank H. Woods Purchase Fund

Reference Number

1960.3

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/11434/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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