Matthias Stom, Salome receives the Head of John the Baptist

The grim story of the beheading of Saint John the Baptist is recounted in the Gospel of Mark. John had preached against King Herod for marrying Herodias, the wife of his own half-brother, and was imprisoned for the offence. During a banquet, Herod’s stepdaughter Salome danced so beautifully that the King promised to grant her any wish. Following her mother’s instruction, Salome demanded the Baptist’s head on a platter.

Although appalled by the request, Herod gave the order for John’s beheading. Stom has depicted Salome, shown in strict profile at the right, receiving the severed head – the executioner dangles it high over the platter that she holds up. John’s brightly lit face emerges from the murky shadows, so it’s not immediately obvious that his head is no longer attached to his body. A boy in the foreground thrusts a torch forward, providing stark illumination and adding to the theatrical impact of the scene.

The characters in Stom’s painting display a whole spectrum of emotions. The bearded executioner is clearly a ruthless man, but his facial expression suggests that even he is slightly repulsed by Salome’s gruesome demand. The old maidservant standing next to Salome seems shocked at the sight of the head hanging in front of her, raising a hand in defence. Salome, by contrast, is staring at the saint’s head without fear; her flushed cheeks and shining eyes might even speak of excitement. The young boy with wide eyes and open mouth has removed his beret in a gesture of respect to the dead man.

Stom, who was probably of Flemish origin, painted at least two other versions of the subject (Musei di Strada Nuova, Genoa; National Museum of Fine Arts, Valetta). This is an early work and might have been painted in Rome, where Stom is recorded in 1630 and where he must have studied the work of Caravaggio closely. The story of John the Baptist’s death held a morbid fascination for Caravaggio and his followers and, just like these painters, Stom has combined a dramatic use of lighting with the realistic observation of human emotions.

This painting is first recorded in London in 1779, having being acquired by James Harris, a philosopher, politician and collector. But it was probably already in England in around 1640, when the English portrait painter William Dobson copied it. Dobson’s picture (Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool) is the only seventeenth-century English painting in the style of Caravaggio, and it attests to the taste for Caravaggist paintings in England at this early date. James Harris described the painting as ‘undoubtedly Italian’ but when it was sold at auction in 1950 it was attributed to Gerrit van Honthorst, a Dutch follower of Caravaggio who might have been Stom’s teacher.