Salome receives the Head of John the Baptist

The executioner grips the hair of the severed head as he lowers it towards the platter. Salome holds the dish, looking aside. Between them, an older woman clasps her hands. The close arrangement leaves little distance from the aftermath of violence. The Gospel story begins when John the Baptist criticises King Herod’s marriage to Herodias. After her daughter’s dancing wins a promise from the king, Herodias urges her to demand John’s head. Caravaggio shows the delivery rather than the feast or the execution. Painted near the end of the Italian artist’s life, around 1609–10, the picture uses a narrow range of colours and strong contrasts of light and dark. Hands, faces and the pale platter carry the action without an elaborate setting. Salome’s expression is difficult to read. The maidservant’s grief is more direct, while the executioner concentrates on his task. Their different responses keep the scene from settling into one emotion. The painting gives each person a distinct relation to the same terrible object.