The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 24, 2024

Head of Saint John the Baptist

Head of Saint John the Baptist

c. 1550–1650
Framed: 80.6 x 104.8 x 7.6 cm (31 3/4 x 41 1/4 x 3 in.); Unframed: 50 x 75.2 cm (19 11/16 x 29 5/8 in.)

Did You Know?

The scroll wrapped around the cross next to John the Baptist's head reads Ecce Agnus Dei, meaning "Behold the Lamb of God."

Description

Salome’s dancing so pleased her stepfather Herod that he offered her anything she wanted. Her mother advised Salome to demand John the Baptist’s head, which Salome presented to her family in an elaborate dish. Here, the head stands on its own, with a startlingly tangible presence. Despite its biblical source, this work was meant for a domestic setting, whose owner would have admired the artful presentation of a shocking story. Acquired in 1953 as the work of the Venetian Renaissance artist Titian, the painting soon lost this attribution because it lacks Titian’s distinctive brushwork. After decades of research, the museum has yet to identify a clear author. Recently, several scholars have argued persuasively for a Spanish artist, partly because the subject is common in Spanish art in the early 1600s. Yet the color scheme and the handling of paint in the face recalls the work of earlier artists inspired by Titian in northern Italy.
  • [Alessandro Brass, Venice], sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1953.
  • The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 97 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 97 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 111 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Catalogue of Paintings, Part 3: European Paintings of the 16th, 17th, and 18th Centuries. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1982. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 442
    Brettell, Richard R. On Modern Beauty: Three Paintings by Manet, Gauguin, and Cezanne. Los Angeles: The J. Paul Getty Museum, 2019. Reproduced: P. 56, no. 40
  • Vienna, Sezesion (second exhibition by the Verein der Museumfreunde), 1924: "Meisterwerker Italienischer Renaissance Kunst aus Privtbesitz," cat. no. 112.
    Venice, Palazo Pésaro, 1935: "Mostra di Tiziano," cat. no. 63 (catalogue by Gino Fogliari).
    CMA, 1956: "The Venetian Tradition," cat. no. 22, pl. IX. (Catalogue by Henry S Francis).
    The Venetian Tradition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (November 8, 1956-January 1, 1957).
  • {{cite web|title=Head of Saint John the Baptist|url=false|author=|year=c. 1550–1650|access-date=24 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1953.424