This painting depicts a female figure, Salome, a biblical character, holding the severed head of St. John the Baptist. This theme was very common in European painting of the 17th and 18th centuries.
Details of the work: The elegantly dressed female figure, with a serene expression, holds her decapitated head on a tray.
Style and period: Similar works are often attributed to artists of the Italian or Flemish school of the 17th or 18th century, influenced by the Caravaggio style, which emphasized realism and drama through strong contrasts of light and shadow (chiaroscuro).
Frame: The painting is presented in a solid oval frame in contemporary carved wood, which increases its historical and aesthetic value.
Biblical context: The story of Salome tells that he asked for the head of John the Baptist as a reward for his dance before Herod Antipas, at the instigation of his mother, Herodias.
Italian School, early 18th century, dimensions: 88 x 74 cm, canvas: 61 x 54 cm