Salome with the Head of Saint John the Baptist

Cleveland Museum of Art

Salome with the Head of Saint John the Baptist

Jacob DuckLinkedCulture matchlcp-770e442665b8

Date
mid-1600s
Medium
oil on wood
Culture
Netherlands
Department
European Painting and Sculpture
Institution
Cleveland Museum of Art
Object ID
148366

From the Cleveland Museum of Art record

The colorful, exotic garments worn by the woman at the right demonstrate Jacob Duck’s skill in painting luxurious surfaces: she is Salome, daughter of Herodias. According to the New Testament, Herodias bore a grudge against John the Baptist, who condemned her marriage to Herod, ruler of Galilee and Perea. At a celebration dinner, Salome so charmed Herod with her dancing that he offered her anything she desired—and Herodias convinced Salome to demand John the Baptist’s head. Rather than depicting the actual execution, Duck focused on the executioner’s muscled physique as he departs the scene, turning to look at the viewer after having presented Salome with John’s severed head. The pommel of the executioner's sword is decorated with a grotesque head, suggesting an ancient or exotic setting for this event.

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Provenance & credit

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Credit line
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Noah L. Butkin
Provenance
(F. Muller, Amsterdam, sale H. I. A Raedt van Oldenbarnevelt et al., November 6 ff., 1900, no. 339 [fl. 280, to Valk]) | Victor de Stuers (1858-1916, The Hague and Kasteel Wiersse, Vorden, The Netherlands); by descent to his daughter, Alice Jacqueline Hortense Julie Aurelie de Stuers (1895-1988), wife of W. E. Gatacre | Mrs. W. E. Gatacre, Jonkvrouwe de Stuers, Kasteel Wiersse, Vorden, Holland | (Christie’s, London, sale Mrs. W. E. Gatacre-Jonkvrouwe de Stuers, November 26, 1965, no. 42 [as by Hendrik Gerritsz Pot; 600 Gns., to Sokolow]) | (Alan Jacobs Gallery, London) | (Sotheby’s, London, sale December 6, 1972, no. 54 [as by Jacob Duck]) | (The Arcade Gallery, London) | Mr. and Mrs. Noah L. Butkin, Cleveland, by gift to the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1975.

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