The Palace Caravaggio Royal Palace of Madrid

See one of the most important pieces from Philip IV's art collection, Salome with the Head of Saint John the Baptist by Caravaggio, in the Stucco Room of the Royal Palace of Madrid.

It depicts the moment when Salome displays the head of Saint John the Baptist on a silver platter. The saint has just been decapitated at the request of Salome's mother, Herodias, whom he had... Show more

See one of the most important pieces from Philip IV's art collection, Salome with the Head of Saint John the Baptist by Caravaggio, in the Stucco Room of the Royal Palace of Madrid.

It depicts the moment when Salome displays the head of Saint John the Baptist on a silver platter. The saint has just been decapitated at the request of Salome's mother, Herodias, whom he had reproached for her dissolute life with Herod. The young woman glances at the spectator with restrained satisfaction, while an elderly maidservant looks on with a serious expression.

The work illustrates the powerful drama characteristic of the months the painter was forced to spend in exile in Naples after hurriedly fleeing from Rome. The figures are presented in an unbalanced arrangement, leaving an unsettling empty space on the left side, and their strong lighting emphasises their volume. The dramatic tension is heightened by the use of thick, laborious brushstrokes that convey a tactile impression of the textures. The faces of the two women, whose heads seem to emerge in opposite directions from the same body, denote youth and old age.

The painting came from the collection of García de Avellaneda, second Count of Castrillo and viceroy of Naples from 1653 to 1659, and is first recorded at the Alcázar in Madrid in 1666. It remained there until the building was destroyed by fire in 1734, subsequently passing through various royal sites.