Curatorial Notes
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.
Artwork Identification
Title Salome with the Head of Saint John the Baptist
Title (PT) Salomé com a Cabeça de São João Batista
Title (ES) Salomé con la Cabeza de San Juan Bautista
Artist Guido Reni
Artist Bio Guido Reni (Italian, 1575–1642)
Date c. 1639–42
Work Type Painting
Location & Collection
Institution Art Institute of Chicago
Source View Museum Page
License Creative Commons Public Domain Mark 1.0
