Tiziano (c.1488-1576)
Salomè con la testa del Battista (Salome with the Head of John the Baptist)
1515
Oil on canvas, 90 x 72 cm
Galleria Doria Pamphilj, Roma
This early masterpiece by Titian, which illustrates the terrible biblical episode in a dark room, illuminated by an arch that opens onto a clear sky and surmounted by a sculpted cupid, already shows the poetics of the great artist in the suspended atmosphere, the expression absorbed and enigmatic of the protagonist, the luminous texture of the clothes and skin tones. The scene is tinged with refined and sensual lyricism and represents Salome accompanied by the handmaid who holds the tray on which the head of the Baptist rests, in which a self-portrait of the author has been recognized. The work, dated to 1515, is perhaps documented in 1592 in the collection of Lucrezia d’Este and certainly belonged to Cardinal Pietro Aldobrandini since 1603, then to his niece Olimpia who married Camillo Pamphilj for the second time. The ancient fame of the painting is demonstrated by the various contemporary copies still in existence. (GDP)