PROVENANCE: Julius Weitzner, New York and London; Gift of L. E. Carpenter and Co. to BJU, 1958.

Vouet settled in Rome around 1614 where he studied the work of Caravaggio’s disciple, Bartolomeo Manfredi. The present Salome exhibits both the influence of Caravaggio and a connection to the early 1620s work of Giovanni Lanfranco, indicating that Vouet may have painted it after he had been in Rome for some time.

Upon his return to France in 1627, Vouet became Painter to the King and one of the most important French artists of the century. He taught some of the greatest artists of the next generation, including Eustache Le Seuer and Charles Le Brun.

Scripture says that Herod’s wife, Herodias, hated John the Baptist and instructed her daughter to ask for his head when Herod offered to grant her a wish. On his step-daughter’s request, Herod “sent, and beheaded John in the prison. And his head was brought in a charger, and given to the damsel: and she brought it to her mother” (Matthew 14:10-11). Although the Bible does not record the girl’s name, the name Salome first appeared in the writings of Josephus.