Scripture · Luke 1:28
Mark 6:27-28
Salome with the Head of John the Baptist
So without delay, the king commanded that John’s head be brought in. He sent an executioner, who went and beheaded him in the prison. The man brought John’s head on a platter and presented it to the girl, who gave it to her mother.
Salome turns her face away from the platter bearing John’s head, enclosed within a close group of shadowed figures.
About the artwork
The Madrid Salome makes the face and the object it turns away from the center of attention. The head rests on a platter rather than being shown in the prison or at Herod’s banquet. The restricted space holds the aftermath before the viewer, leaving the wider court and its celebration beyond the picture.
Patrimonio Nacional dates this version to about 1607. It is documented in the collection of Spain’s viceroy of Naples in 1657 and later survived the fire in Madrid’s royal palace in 1734, though the details of its rescue are unknown. Its composition and date should not be exchanged with those of Caravaggio’s separate Salome in London.
Featured in: Caravaggio’s Bible Paintings: The Painter Who Killed a Man and Kept Painting Grace
What does Mark 6:27-28 mean?
Mark 6 gives the killing a sequence of responsibility: Herodias wants John silenced, her daughter asks for his head, and Herod orders the execution rather than refuse in front of his guests. Verses 27–28 describe the executioner’s action and the delivery of the head through the daughter to her mother.
Mark also says that Herod had recognized John as a righteous and holy man and had listened to him with a troubled interest. That context makes the order more than an impersonal act of violence. Caravaggio’s turned face can prompt questions about the encounter with its consequences, but the text does not tell us that the daughter repented or explain her expression.
Mark 6:27–28 identifies the head and platter, while the surrounding account locates the killing within Herod’s compromised exercise of power.
Sources
Galería de las Colecciones Reales (Patrimonio Nacional), Madrid.
Caravaggio’s Bible Paintings: The Painter Who Killed a Man and Kept Painting Grace. Artwork reading adapted from this guide.
Mark 6 — Berean Standard Bible. Context for Mark 6:27-28.
Also from Mark:A ForerunnerThe Calling of the Apostles Peter and Andrew
Continue looking:Salome at the PrisonLet the Little Children Come unto JesusLet the Little Children Come to Me (second version)