TO UNDERSTAND THE SCENE

Beautiful Judith holds the head of Holofernes, the general she has just killed. Three elements help the spectator to avoid any confusion:

the head is never on a tray
Judith generally carries a sword
a maid-servant often accompanies her

(see Judith)

Jael killing Sisera is a murder which could easily be confused with that of Judith.

The Book of Judges (Chapters 4 and 5) tells the story of Deborah who succeeds in vanquishing a Cananean chief named Sisera. The latter takes refuge at Jael’s house but when he is asleep she kills him by driving a stake into his temple with a hammer.

The woman’s attitude is similar but the weapons are quite different and this horrible murder is seldom represented.

Salome receives the Head of John the Baptist; Bernardino LUINI; c. 1527; oil on canvas; Musée du Louvre, Paris.

Réunion Musée Nationaux

The Gospel according to Mark, chapter 6.

John the Baptist is a prophet asking for the conversion of sinners. In Galilee, he denounces the local king, Herod Antipas, who has married his sister-in-law Herodias. For John has said to Herod: It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife.

During a banquet, Herodias introduces her daughter Salome,

the daughter of the said Herodias came in, and danced, and pleased Herod and those who sat with him, the king said to the damsel, Ask of me whatsoever you want, and I will give it to you.

And she went forth, and said to her mother, What shall I ask? And she said, The head of John the Baptist…

And immediately the king sent an executioner, and commanded his head to be brought: and he went and beheaded him in the prison,

And brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the damsel: and the damsel gave it to her mother.

And when his disciples heard of it, they came and took up his corpse, and laid it in a tomb. (Mark 6:22-29)

Comment

John the Baptist’s death is that of a prophet, the one whose words disturb the established powers. John the Baptist being the “forerunner” of Jesus, his death also heralds that of Christ.

The execution of John the Baptist

A representation of the preparation of the execution.

John the Baptist as a martyr. The image of humiliated innocence. The representation is to be compared to that of Christ tortured.

The classical period shows some taste for the macabre. And in Caravaggio, Salome is not a mere spectator.

The opposition between the executor and the girl; which one of the two is the real  executioner?

Salome

Salome’s face is marked with deep gentleness, which contrasts with Judith’s fierce determination.

Salome, or disappointed love turning into hatred

Judith and Salome

The nearness of the two heroines: Klimt who had painted several Judith's has deliberately added Salome’s name on it.
Cranach has built his two paintings in the same register.

John the Baptist is the cursed prophet and the greatest saint.

It has been said about him that he “preached in the desert”, that is to say for nothing. But he is the forerunner, the one who proclaims and recognises the Messiah, the one who is present with Mary in the scenes of the Last Judgement (See the Last Judgment).

Whereas all the saints, whether martyrs or not, are celebrated on the day of their death, John the Baptist is the only one whose feast day corresponds to his supposed birthday. This feast, on June 24th, sometimes called “Summer Christmas” has been for centuries the occasion of festivities around “St John’s bonfire”. This tradition continued an old pagan feast of light on the day of the summer solstice (Midsummer’s Day).

An 8th century Latin hymn in honour of John the Baptist that is at the origin of the name given to the notes of the musical scale.

The notes bore the names of the letters of the alphabet from A to G (this practice is still used in England and in a great number of countries) but, in the 10^th century, Guido d' Arezzo found it difficult to sing with them. He then took a hymn dedicated to St John the first syllable of each line of which corresponded to the following note in the scale. Thus he had the note C = Ut sung, then D = Re and so on.

In the 17^th century as the name “ut” was not judged very harmonious, the musician Jean-Baptiste DOni replaced it with the first syllable of his name “do”.

In the 1959 stage musical The Sound of Music, the tune of "Do-Re-Mi" is used by Maria to teach the notes of the musical scale to the Von Trapp children.

 OSCAR WILDE     site

Salome became a heroine at the end of the 19^th century for the artists who saw in her the symbol of the young immoral beauty, of the femme fatale, and even that of the vampire woman.