The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of July 15, 2026

A vertically oriented oil painting depicts three people with light skin tones in a sparse room. On our left, a man in a short red tunic walks toward a doorway while looking back. In the center, an older woman in a white veil holds a tray containing the severed head of John the Baptist. On our right, Salome, wearing an ornate patterned gown, gazes toward the head with both hands raised in surprise.

Salome with the Head of Saint John the Baptist

mid-1600s

Jacob Duck

(Dutch, c. 1600–1667)
Netherlands
oil on wood
Framed: 92 x 76.5 x 4 cm (36 1/4 x 30 1/8 x 1 9/16 in.); Unframed: 71 x 54.6 cm (27 15/16 x 21 1/2 in.)
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Noah L. Butkin 1975.79
Location: 213 Dutch Painting

Did You Know?

The pommel of the executioner's sword is decorated with a grotesque head, suggesting an ancient or exotic setting for this event.

Description

The colorful, exotic garments worn by the woman at the right demonstrate Jacob Duck’s skill in painting luxurious surfaces: she is Salome, daughter of Herodias. According to the New Testament, Herodias bore a grudge against John the Baptist, who condemned her marriage to Herod, ruler of Galilee and Perea. At a celebration dinner, Salome so charmed Herod with her dancing that he offered her anything she desired—and Herodias convinced Salome to demand John the Baptist’s head. Rather than depicting the actual execution, Duck focused on the executioner’s muscled physique as he departs the scene, turning to look at the viewer after having presented Salome with John’s severed head.
  • (F. Muller, Amsterdam, sale H. I. A Raedt van Oldenbarnevelt et al., November 6 ff., 1900, no. 339 [fl. 280, to Valk])
    Victor de Stuers (1858-1916, The Hague and Kasteel Wiersse, Vorden, The Netherlands); by descent to his daughter, Alice Jacqueline Hortense Julie Aurelie de Stuers (1895-1988), wife of W. E. Gatacre
    Mrs. W. E. Gatacre, Jonkvrouwe de Stuers, Kasteel Wiersse, Vorden, Holland
    (Christie’s, London, sale Mrs. W. E. Gatacre-Jonkvrouwe de Stuers, November 26, 1965, no. 42 [as by Hendrik Gerritsz Pot; 600 Gns., to Sokolow])
    (Alan Jacobs Gallery, London)
    (Sotheby’s, London, sale December 6, 1972, no. 54 [as by Jacob Duck])
    (The Arcade Gallery, London)
    Mr. and Mrs. Noah L. Butkin, Cleveland, by gift to the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1975.
  • Manuscript Catalogue (handwritten by Victor de Stuers, 1915). Mentioned: no. 348.
    "Alan Jacobs: Fine Paintings." The Art Quarterly XXXIV, no. 3 (Autumn 1971): 361. Reproduced: p. 361
    "Notable Works of Art Now on the Market: Supplement." The Burlington Magazine 115, no. 843 (June 1973). Mentioned and reproduced: pl XXX
    Lee, Sherman E. "The Year in Review for 1975." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 63, no. 2 (1976): 31-71. Mentioned: cat. no. 58, p. 67, Reproduced: p. 41 www.jstor.org
    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. Reproduced: p. 231; Mentioned: p. 230-232
    Rosen, Jochai. Jacob Duck, c.1600-1667: Catalogue Raisonné. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2017. Reproduced: p.246-247, no. 149
  • Year in Review: 1975. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 3-March 7, 1976).
    A Winter Exhibition of Dutch XVIIth Century Masters. Alan Jacobs Gallery, London, 1971.
  • {{cite web|title=Salome with the Head of Saint John the Baptist|url=false|author=Jacob Duck|year=mid-1600s|access-date=15 July 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1975.79