19th-century Spanish school. Based on models by Titian.

19th-century Spanish school. Based on models by TIZIANO (Pieve di Cadore, Belluno, Veneto, c. 1477/1490 – Venice, 1576).
“Salome with the Head of St. John the Baptist.”
Oil on canvas, relined.
Measurements: 85 x 76 cm; 108 x 95 cm (frame).
Salome, an Idumean princess, daughter of Herodias and wife of Herod Philip I, carries the severed head of St. John the Baptist on a platter, illustrating a Gospel passage narrated by Matthew (14:1–11) and Mark (6:22–28). Titian had already addressed this subject in 1516 (Rome, Doria-Pamphilj), conceiving the scene in a pyramidal composition, with Salome holding the Baptist’s head on a platter at chest height and a maid present. The scene was set indoors, with an arch in the background. Titian then imbued the scene with an erotic dimension—common in depictions of this episode in early 16th-century Venetian art—through Salome’s suggestive attire and the way her bare arm brushes against the prophet’s hair. According to several art historians, the head of John the Baptist is a self-portrait of Titian, who thus pioneered a subgenre—the “decapité” self-portrait—that Caravaggio would later revive.
Although this work was painted in Spain during the 19th century, it was originally conceived by Titian. In this version, the focus is entirely on Salome, who holds the head of John the Baptist aloft. In contrast to the solid pyramidal structure of the first version, this one exhibits a dynamism that evokes the dance Salome performed to seduce John the Baptist. In a lively contrapposto, her body traces a diagonal line paralleled by an ethereal veil, balanced by the vertical lines of her head and left arm. The object of her seduction is now the viewer, whom Salome addresses with her gaze.