Jacob van Oostsanen 1470 – 1533

Salome with the Baptist's Head

oil on panel (72 × 54 cm) — 1524 Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Jacob van Oostsanen biography

This work is linked to Matthew 14:9

Excited by her dancing at his banquet, king Herod lets Salome make a wish. Her mother suggests to ask for the head of John the Baptist. The prophet had denounced her mother's adultery with the king.

Jacob van Oostsanen opposes the cruelty of the Baptist's head to Salome's beauty and the tranquillity of the landscape in the background.

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