Guercino
, Italian, 1591-1666
Title
Saint John the Baptist Visited in Prison by SalomeDate1624/1626
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions
86.2 x 99.3 cm
Credit LinePresented by Sir Denis Mahon to the British Fund for the National Gallery of Ireland, 2008
Object numberNGI.4649
Label TextAccording to the New Testament, Saint John was imprisoned by Herod Antipas, ruler of Galilee, for denouncing Herod’s marriage to his brother’s wife Herodias. The episode depicted here - Herodias’s daughter Salome taunting Saint John through the prison window - is not mentioned in the bible. Guercino portrayed a moment of emotional intensity, as the chained and dishevelled saint turns away from the curious gaze of the youthful and bejewelled woman. The painting marks a transition from Guercino’s early, dramatic style of painting to the idealised, classical style of his later work.