Salome with the Head of John the Baptist (Madrid), c. 1609, is a painting by the Italian master Caravaggio in the Royal Collections Gallery, Madrid.

The early Caravaggio biographer Giovanni Bellori, writing in 1672, records the artist sending a Salome with the Head of John the Baptist from Naples to the Grand Master of the Knights of Malta, Fra Alof de Wignacourt, in the hope of regaining favour after having been expelled from the Order in 1608. It seems likely that this is the work, according to Caravaggio scholar John Gash. Gash also notes that the executioner, looking down at the severed head, helps transform the painting "from a provocative spectacle into a profound meditation on death and human malevolence."

Salome with the Head of John the Baptist (Caravaggio, Madrid)

See also

Salome with the Head of John the Baptist (Caravaggio), London

List of paintings by Caravaggio

Further reading

References

External links

1600s paintings

Paintings by Caravaggio

Paintings about death

Paintings depicting Salome

Paintings depicting John the Baptist

Christian art about death

Royal Palace of Madrid

Spanish royal collection

Salome with the Head of John the Baptist (Caravaggio, Madrid)