Salome with the Head of Saint John the Baptist
Guido Reni (Italian, 1575–1642)
c. 1639–42
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Materials & printing
Archival matte paper, 189 g/m² (10.3 mil), sourced from Japan, printed with multicolor water-based inkjet so every brushstroke stays crisp. Framed prints arrive ready to hang in a .75″ ayous-wood frame with an acrylite front. Sized to standard frames by cropping, never stretching — at most about 3% comes off one edge, which isn’t noticeable on most pieces, and we only offer a size when it stays that small.
Shipping & returns
Made to order and delivered in 5–8 business days (2–4 to print, 3–4 in transit). US shipping only for now. Because each print is made for your order, all sales are final — but if it arrives damaged or defective, send us a photo within 14 days and we’ll replace it free. Full policy.
Why is it this affordable?
A thin, flat margin on every piece — just enough to keep the store running. Most of what you pay is the print itself. We only sell sizes that reproduce at full quality, and we don’t mark up the large sizes the way most shops do.
About this work
This painting depicts Salome as she receives the head of John the Baptist on a platter, the gruesome reward she chose for having pleased her stepfather, Herod, by performing a seductive dance. This episode from the New Testament had long been popular in Italian art, thanks to its combination of religiosity, violence, and eroticism. The most famous and successful Italian painter of his day, Guido Reni worked in Rome and then in Bologna, where his highly refined style and intensely spiritual subjects dominated. Despite its horrific subject matter, this unfinished work displays the graceful movement, delicate colors, and transparent paint application of Reni’s late style.
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Original size
- 248.5 × 174 cm (97 3/4 × 68 1/2 in.)
Museum record · 3 owners · 5 exhibitions
Provenance
- Cardinal Girolamo Colonna (died 1666), Palazzo Colonna, Rome, by 1647; by descent in the Colonna family, until at least 1783.
- Earl of Darnley, Cobham Hall, Kent, England, by 1812; by descent to Iva Francis Walter Bligh, 8th Earl of Darnley (died 1927); sold, Sotheby's, London, July 22-23, 1957, lot 318, to "Nash" for £100.
- George Wildenstein, London and New York, by March 1958; sold to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1960.
Exhibitions
- London, British Institution, 1819, as Judith with Head of Holofernes.
- Detroit Institute of Arts, Art in Italy, 1600-1700, Apr. 6-May 9, 1965.
- Bologna, Pinoteca Nazionale, Guido Reni, 1575-1642, Se.
- 13, 1988; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Dec. 11, 1988-Feb. 5, 1989; Fort Worth, Kimbell Art Museum, Mar. 9-May 14, 1989.
- Frankfurt, Städel Museum, Guido Reni: The Divine, Nov. 23, 2022 - Mar. 5, 2023; Madrid, Museo del Prado, Guido Reni, Mar. 28 - July 9, 2023.
