Caravaggio - Salome with the Head of John the Baptist 1607

Caravaggio - Flagellation of Christ 1607 Caravaggio - Madonna of the Rosary. Madonna del Rosario 1607 Caravaggio - Saint Jerome Writing 1607 Caravaggio - Salome with the Head of John the Baptist 1607 Caravaggio - The Seven Works of Mercy 1607 Caravaggio - Annunciation 1608 Caravaggio - Beheading of Saint John the Baptist 1608
Caravaggio - Salome with the Head of John the Baptist 1607

Salome with the Head of John the Baptist 1607
90x167cm oil/canvas
National Gallery, London, UK
The image is only being used for informational and educational purposes

<< Previous G a l l e r y Next >>

From National Gallery, London:
The subject is from the New Testament (Mark 6). Salome had danced so well for King Herod that he swore he would grant her any request. Her mother, Herodias, who sought revenge on John the Baptist, persuaded Salome to ask for his head.
This is a late work by the artist, probably painted at the end of his life, perhaps in Naples where he resided from 1609 to 1610. No longer concerned with the incidentals of the narrative, Caravaggio focuses on the essential human tragedy of the story.