Herodias with the head of the Baptist

The painting, a young work by the Milanese artist Francesco Cairo, dating back to 1634-1635, depicts the mother of Salome, Herodias, wife of Herod Philip and niece of Herod the Great. Her dissolute life and libertine customs were harshly criticised by John the Baptist, who was therefore decapitated and his head, visible in the lower part of the painting, presented to her on a platter.

Here the tragedy of Herodias “is consumed in desperate solitude: the female image, swathed in an elegant cloak, edged with thick fur, stands out against the background of a bare wall, lit by a spectral light that reverberates with livid reflections on the face of the woman, victim of her own victim, the terrifying emblem of the instantaneous punishment of a fault” (Binotto). It was in fact Herodias who ordered the death of the Baptist and who, seizing his head, pierced his tongue with a hairpin. With this cruel and brutal gesture she wanted to punish the words of disapproval with which the Baptist had condemned her immoral behaviour.

The composition of the work is based on a circular movement that envelops the female figure, from her elegant blouse to its gold edging, the rich fur, the red velvet cloak, ending in her head leaning backwards.

The pallor of her face, the half-shut eyes and the gaping mouth strongly express all the grief and despair of the woman “who (Matthew 14,11) asked for the death of a just man” (Villa).