03 — ARTWORK
Salome
- MEDIUM
- Tempera on panel, 51 x 58 cm
- TYPE
- Religious
PALETTE
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- FILE
- 1017 × 850 px · JPEG
COMMENTARY
UNDERLINED TERMS ARE DEFINED IN THE GLOSSARY.
Until 1793 the painting was attributed to Leonardo da Vinci. Then it was recognised as the work of his Lombardian follower, Luini.
The absence of biographical information on this painter makes a reconstruction of his cultural background somewhat difficult, although his airy perspectiveThe method of representing three-dimensional objects on a flat surface. Perspective gives a picture a sense of depth. The most important form of perspective in the Renaissance was linear perspective (first formulated by the architect Brunelleschi in the early 15th century), in which the real or suggested lines of objects converge on a vanishing point on the horizon, often in the middle of the composition (centralized perspective). The first artist to make a systematic use of linear perspective was Masaccio, and its principles were set out by the architect Alberti in a book published in 1436. The use of linear perspective had a profound effect on the development of Western art and remained unchallenged until the 20th century. constructions would certainly suggest a link with the Venetian school.
Luini was a prolific artist of easelStand on which a painting is supported while the artist works on it. The oldest representation of an easel is on an Egyptian relief of the Old Kingdom (c. 2600-2150 BC). Renaissance illustrations of the artist at work show all kinds of contrivances, the commonest being the three-legged easel with pegs, such as we still use today. Light folding easels were not made until the 18th and 19th centuries, when painters took to working out of doors. The studio easel, a 19th-century invention, is a heavy piece of furniture, which runs on castors or wheels, and served to impress the c1ients of portrait painters. Oil painters need an easel which will support the canvas almost vertically or tip it slightly forward to prevent reflection from the wet paint, whereas the watercolourist must be able to lay his paper nearly flat so that the wet paint will not run down. The term 'easel-painting' is applied to any picture small enough to have been painted on a standard easel. paintings, mostly of religious subjects, with which - as this Herodias reveals - he arrived at a type of classicising painting, rich in chiaroscural intensity, the prelude to an almost North European-style pathos.
The biblical source for the painting is Matthew 14:6-11 or Mark 6:21-8, where the daughter of Herodias danced for her stepfather, Herod, on his birthday. As a reward he promised her anything she wanted and, prompted by her mother, she chose the head of Saint John the Baptist, which she then carried to Herodias on a silver charger. The daughter subsequently became known in literature as Salome, and the theme was memorably treated in the nineteenth century by Richard Strauss and Oscar Wilde amongst others.
It is also assumed that the depicted figure is not Salome but Herodias.
The painting was restored in 1977.
You can view <A onclick="return OpenOther('/cgi-bin/search.cgi?author=&title=Salome+AND+Baptist&comment=&time=any&school=any&form=any&type=any&location=&header=0&other=0&showauthor=1&caption=Salome+with+the+Head+of+John+the+Baptist')" HREF="/cgi-bin/search.cgi?author=&title=Salome+AND+Baptist&comment=&time=any&school=any&form=any&type=any&location=&header=0&other=0&showauthor=1&caption=Salome+with+the+Head+of+John+the+Baptist">other depictions</A> of Salome with the Head of John the Baptist. <P> <TABLE ALIGN=LEFT CELLPADDING=5 BORDER=1 WIDTH=320 BGCOLOR="#99CCCC"> <TR VALIGN=MIDDLE><TD><IMG SRC="/support/gif/listen.gif" BORDER=0 VALIGN=MIDDLE> Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 15 minutes):<BR><A HREF="#" onClick="w=window.open ('/music1/20_cent/strauss_salome.html', 'newWin', 'scrollbars=yes,status=no,dependent=yes,screenX=0,screenY=0,width=350,height=350');w.opener=this;w.focus();return true"><B>Richard Strauss: Salome, closing scene</B></A> </TD></TR></TABLE>
CITE THIS RECORD — BIBTEX
@online{wga-r2e1a21eaec593d,
author = {Krén, Emil and Marx, Daniel},
title = {Salome by LUINI, Bernardino},
organization = {{Web Gallery of Art}},
date = {2026-09-09},
url = {https://beta.wga.hu/artists/luini-bernardino-r675c35f58072e0/salome-r2e1a21eaec593d},
urldate = {2026-09-09},
langid = {english}
}ACCESSED 2026-09-09. REPLACE THE AUTHOR FIELD WITH THE COMMENTARY AUTHOR WHERE ONE IS NAMED.
