Salome with the Head of John the Baptist (c. 1650): Art, History and Details

Salome with the Head of John the Baptist (c. 1650) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Nicolaus Knupfer (Dutch, 1603–1655).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

The Utrecht artist Nicolaes Knupfer was known for depicting powerful women who outsmarted or overpowered men. This drawing, probably a study for a painting, depicts the New Testament story of Salome, who was granted a wish by King Herod after dancing for him. Encouraged by her mother, Herodias, Salome asked for the head of John the Baptist, against whom Herodias bore a grudge for objecting to her marriage to the king. The scene shows the theatrical moment after the beheading, when a stoic Salome holds a salver to receive the head.

Object facts

• Title: Salome with the Head of John the Baptist
• Date: c. 1650
• Creator attribution: Nicolaus Knupfer (Dutch, 1603–1655)
• Culture: Netherlands
• Type: Drawing
• Technique: pen and brown ink, brown washes and white heightening (oxidized), over black chalk on antique laid paper; framing lines in pen and brown ink
• Dimensions: Support: 50.3 x 38.7 cm (19 13/16 x 15 1/4 in.); Matted: 53 x 39.5 x 0.6 cm (20 7/8 x 15 9/16 x 1/4 in.); Image: 33.5 x 27.8 cm (13 3/16 x 10 15/16 in.)
• Collection: DR - Dutch
• Department: Drawings
• Accession number: 2019.8

A detail from the museum

The stoic Salome in this drawing awaits the head of John the Baptist so that she can deliver it to King Herod on a salver.

Collection credit

John L. Severance Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Saxton, Jo, and Nicolaus Knupfer. Nicolaus Knupfer, an Original Artist: Monograph and Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings and Drawings. Doornspijk, Netherlands: Davaco, 2005.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.