The severed head of St John the Baptist rests on a silver plate with the eyes half closed and the mouth open. Salome the daughter of Herodias presents the plate. She holds it with her left hand in front of her luminous red brocade dress, which is rich both in
The severed head of St John the Baptist rests on a silver plate with the eyes half closed and the mouth open. Salome the daughter of Herodias presents the plate. She holds it with her left hand in front of her luminous red brocade dress, which is rich both in folds and decorative slits. Together with the transparent lining it stands in contrast to the dark background. The panel is a fragment of a larger painting. It was originally the lower part of a half-length depiction of Salome, measuring 84 x 57 cm and formerly in the Gotha collection. It was sold on the art market in 1936 and only the section depicting the head of St John the Baptist on a platter returned to Gotha in the same year, while the rest of the painting is presently considered lost. [1] The intervention was made for commercial reasons, and so out of a 'femme fatale' an attractive female portrait was created for the market, and was offered as a Portrait of Sibylle of Saxony. [2]
[1] The upper section last appeared on the art market in 1972 (art dealer, P. de Boer, Amsterdam) as a work by Cranach the Younger (Sibylle of Saxony, wood, 54 x 47.5 cm), see: Jacoby 2002, 208 f.
[2] In another case the severed head of St John the Baptist was overpainted with flowers. The whereabouts of this panel is unknown.
[Exhib. Cat. Gotha, Kassel 2015, 278]
- Attributions
-
Lucas Cranach the Elder
Follower of Lucas Cranach the Elder
Attributions
Lucas Cranach the Elder | [Exhib. Cat. Gotha 2015, 278, No. 99] |
Follower of Lucas Cranach the Elder | 'Nach Lucas Cranach der Ältere' |
Workshop Lucas Cranach the Elder | L. Cranach (Werkstatt)' [1][Exhib. Cat. Gotha 1994, 52] |
Circle of Lucas Cranach the Elder | 'als Schule L. Cranach d. Ä.' 'Schule Cranachs' [1][Exhib. Cat. Gotha 1994, 52] |
- Production dates
- about 1520 - 1535
about 1600
Production dates
about 1520 - 1535 | [Exhib. Cat. Gotha 2015, 278-279, No. 99] |
about 1600 | [Exhib. Cat. Gotha 1994, 52] |
- Dimensions
- Dimensions of support: 32.3 x 57 cm (originally 84 cm high)
Dimensions
Dimensions of support: 32.3 x 57 cm (originally 84 cm high)
[Exhib. Cat. Gotha 1994, 52]
- Signature / Dating
None
- Owner
- Stiftung Schloss Friedenstein, Gotha
- Repository
- Stiftung Schloss Friedenstein, Gotha
- Location
- Gotha
- CDA ID
- DE_SMG_SG303
- FR (1978) Nr.
- FR-none
- Persistent Link
- https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_SMG_SG303/