by Tom Gurney
Tom Gurney BSc (Hons) is an art history expert with over 20 years experience
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Email: tomgurney1@gmail.com / Phone: +44 7429 011000
Salome with the Head of John the Baptist: Caravaggio's Madrid Painting
Salome holds a platter with John the Baptist's head while an executioner stands beside her and an older woman looks on. A brilliant red cloak distinguishes this Caravaggio painting from his later, more muted treatment of the same subject in London. The Madrid work belongs to Spain's Royal Collections and is shown by the Galería de las Colecciones Reales. Its owner dates it about 1607, during Caravaggio's first stay in Naples, and identifies it as inventory 10010026.[1][2]
Caravaggio's two surviving Salome paintings are separate works. The earlier Madrid canvas has a large red cloak; the later London canvas is more muted and has pale drapery. Their shared title has led to images being confused, but their collection records and visual details identify each one.[1][3]
Caravaggio in context
The Cardsharps
c.1595Calling of Saint Matthew
1599–1600Supper at Emmaus
1601At a Glance
- ArtistCaravaggio, according to Patrimonio Nacional's collection record[1]
- TitleSalomé con la cabeza del Bautista / Salome with the Head of John the Baptist[1]
- Date and placeabout 1607, probably first Naples period, October 1606–June 1607[1]
- Mediumoil on canvas[1]
- Dimensions126 × 149 cm in a Patrimonio Nacional dossier; the online object record gives 138 × 169.5 cm framed. These are different measuring states, and the sources reviewed do not reconcile them further.[1][2]
- CollectionSpanish Royal Collections, Galería de las Colecciones Reales, inventory 10010026[1]
- Identifying visual featureSalome's large red cloak; executioner with sword and older attendant[1][3]
- Earliest cited inventoryConde de Castrillo collection, 1657; Madrid Alcázar record, 1666[1]
Contents
- Which Salome Is This?
- The Red Cloak and the Four Figures
- The Gospel Story and Salome's Name
- First Naples Period and Possible Meaning
- From Castrillo to the Royal Collections
- The Madrid and London Paintings Compared
- Identifying the Madrid Painting
- Frequently Asked Questions
Which Salome Is This?
This is Caravaggio's Madrid version of the Baptist's severed head being handed to Salome. The owner describes a half-length arrangement with Salome as the visual centre, a silver platter in her hands, the executioner still holding a sword, and an elderly woman nearby. Her cloak creates the strong red field that separates it at a glance from the London version.[1]
The subject is an aftermath, not the actual beheading. John has already been killed; the executioner presents his head. This distinction also separates the Madrid work from Caravaggio's immense Beheading of Saint John the Baptist in Valletta, where the action unfolds in a different format and setting.[1][3]
The owner places the work in Caravaggio's first Naples period, October 1606 to June 1607. The broad label “about 1607” is more useful than inventing a specific completion month. The National Gallery in London likewise describes Madrid as the earlier of the two Salome compositions, probably made in 1606–07.[1][3]
The large red cloak identifies the Madrid painting even in a small reproduction. The London work's pale drapery and different arrangement are useful cross-checks when images appear under the same English title.[1][3]
The Red Cloak and the Four Figures
Salome's red mantle dominates the foreground. The older attendant stands close behind her, while the executioner at the side holds the sword associated with John's death. The Baptist's head lies on the platter. These are the owner record's visible anchors for recognising the picture.[1]
Red can suggest blood, power or courtly display. Patrimonio Nacional's collection dossier offers a possible blood association, but presents it as something researchers have suggested, not a fixed code proven by Caravaggio. The simple fact that the red occupies so much space is firmer than any one symbolic interpretation.[2]
The figures are brought near the viewer, with little room to escape the exchange. Their faces do not deliver one uniform emotion. Salome looks outward rather than concentrating only on the head, the elderly woman attends gravely to what has happened, and the executioner remains part of the action through his body and weapon. A visual reading can explore those differences without assigning a private thought to any sitter.[1]
This physical concentration recalls Caravaggio's use of half-length figures in earlier genre and religious paintings, but the Madrid Salome is far from a casual court scene. The violence is already accomplished. What remains is a handover in which moral responsibility and response become the dramatic subject.[1][3]
The Gospel Story and Salome's Name
Mark 6:16–29 recounts that Herod imprisoned John because John criticised his marriage to Herodias. At a birthday feast, Herodias's daughter danced and was offered a reward. Prompted by her mother, she asked for John's head, and Herod ordered the execution. The Gospel does not name the daughter in this passage; “Salome” is the name attached to her in later tradition and art history.[3][4]
Caravaggio paints the delivery of the head rather than the dance, Herod's promise or the killing itself. That late moment puts Salome close to the result of her request. The older woman may be read in relation to Herodias or as an attendant, but a public label should follow the owning institution's identification unless stronger object-specific evidence establishes an exact role.[1][3]
The biblical text can help viewers see the causal chain without making the image a literal illustrated verse. There is no need to search the canvas for every character named by Mark. Caravaggio chooses four figures and a single terrible object to make the story immediate.[1][4]
The related London Salome receives the Head of John the Baptist treats the same episode but changes the balance of colour and gesture. A comparison works best after each painting has been identified by its own owner, date and dimensions.[3]
First Naples Period and Possible Meaning
Caravaggio reached Naples after leaving Rome in 1606. Patrimonio Nacional assigns the Madrid picture to the period October 1606–June 1607 on technical and stylistic grounds, citing solid modelling and expressive colour. These terms describe why its owner locates the work in the earlier Neapolitan stay; they are not a dated bill of sale from Caravaggio's studio.[1]
The stronger colour contrasts with the reduced palette of the London painting, which the National Gallery dates to about 1609–10. This comparison does not prove a neat linear decline in colour across every work Caravaggio made. It identifies a difference between two paintings of the same subject as assessed by the London owner.[3]
The first Naples period also produced major religious commissions such as The Seven Works of Mercy. The Salome's more compact, intimate format allows a different kind of narrative pressure. Its figures appear close enough to the viewer for an uncomfortable encounter, while the large Neapolitan altar work gathers many episodes and bodies into a public devotional image.[1][5]
No documented commission identifies the Madrid Salome's original patron. The owner's first certain collecting reference is later, in 1657. The work's eventual place in the Royal Collections does not establish its first recipient or a political allegory.[1]
From Castrillo to the Royal Collections
The Madrid owner traces the picture to García de Avellaneda y Haro, second Count of Castrillo and viceroy of Naples from 1653 to 1659. His 1657 inventory explicitly described a painting of John's beheading with a woman receiving the head, an executioner and an old woman, calling it original to “Caravacho” in the historic spelling. This is valuable evidence for the object's seventeenth-century identity.[1]
The collection record says it appears in the Madrid Alcázar in 1666. It remained there until the 1734 fire, which it survived, and was subsequently moved among royal palaces. This history belongs to the painting after Caravaggio's lifetime; it does not establish the details of the initial Naples commission.[1][2]
The current Galería de las Colecciones Reales item page lists the work on Floor -1 and gives inventory 10010026. Gallery arrangements and loans can change, so a visit guide should recheck the museum's current display rather than promising an unchanging room.[1]
The object page's 138 × 169.5 cm dimensions are labelled framed. The owner institution's separate dossier gives 126 × 149 cm without the same framing note. Those numbers need a final registrar check before the fact card presents one as unambiguously the canvas size.[1][2]
The Madrid and London Paintings Compared
The National Gallery's London work is NG6389, about 1609–10, and measures 91.5 × 106.7 cm. Its Salome lacks the Madrid picture's prominent red mantle. The London owner calls its paint handling looser and palette more pared down.[3]
The two are closely related yet are not interchangeable copies. Both involve Salome, the Baptist's head, an executioner and an older woman, but their composition, colour and size differ. The presence or absence of vivid red is a rapid identification test for a small website thumbnail; the collection and object numbers provide the reliable confirmation.[1][3]
Neither painting is Caravaggio's signed Beheading of Saint John the Baptist in Malta. In the Salome pictures, the killing has already happened. In the Valletta canvas, the execution itself is the central event. Grouping them as a mini-series for readers is useful, provided each image and citation remains with its own object.[3][6]
Identifying the Madrid Painting
The Madrid work is Galería de las Colecciones Reales inventory 10010026; the London work is National Gallery NG6389. Those object numbers, together with the red cloak in Madrid and pale drapery in London, distinguish the two physical paintings.[1][3]
In Madrid, the red cloak, Salome's platter, John's head, the executioner and the older woman anchor the composition. Its full collection identity is Caravaggio, Salomé con la cabeza del Bautista, Galería de las Colecciones Reales, inventory 10010026.[1]
The museum's item page identifies the collection, though visitors should confirm the current room and access before travelling.[1]
Explore the Caravaggio collection
| Name | Date | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Adoration of the Shepherds by Caravaggio: The Messina Nativity | 1608–09; precise order relative to Resurrection of Lazarus remains unresolved | Artwork |
| Amor Victorious by Caravaggio | 1601–02 in the Berlin owner record | Artwork |
| Bacchus by Caravaggio: The Uffizi Painting | about 1598, according to the Uffizi | Artwork |
| Basket of Fruit by Caravaggio | after 1597, probably around the turn of the seventeenth century, according to the Ambrosiana | Artwork |
| Boy Bitten by a Lizard: Caravaggio's London Painting | about 1594–95 in the National Gallery's current catalogue; URL suffix “1596” is inherited | Artwork |
| Boy Bitten by a Lizard: The Florence Version Attributed to Caravaggio | disputed; Longhi's catalogue record preserves historical 1592–93 and other proposed ranges, including c.1597 | Artwork |
| Boy Peeling Fruit by Caravaggio: The Royal Collection Painting | about 1592–93 in the owner's current exhibition record | Artwork |
| Boy Peeling Fruit in Florence: A Derivation from Caravaggio | — | Artwork |
| Boy with a Basket of Fruit by Caravaggio | about 1595 in the Galleria Borghese catalogue | Artwork |
| Caravaggio Paintings in Rome: Churches, Museums and a Practical Route | — | Guide |
| Caravaggio Quotes: What the Documents Actually Record | — | Guide |
| Caravaggio's Lute Player: The Del Monte Painting Once Shown at the Met | about 1596–97 in the Met catalogue | Artwork |
| Caravaggio's Painting Technique: Grounds, Incisions, Revisions and Light | — | Guide |
| Christ at the Column by Caravaggio: The Rouen Flagellation | c.1606 in the owner caption; owner prose gives 1606–07 | Artwork |
| Christ on the Mount of Olives by Caravaggio: The Lost Berlin Painting | — | Artwork |
| Conversion on the Way to Damascus by Caravaggio | about 1601 in the Roma Capitale church record | Artwork |
| Crowning with Thorns by Caravaggio: The Vienna Painting | about 1603 in the 2019 KHM record; “1607” is an inherited URL suffix | Artwork |
| Crowning with Thorns in Prato: Attributed to Caravaggio | about 1602–03 in the collection presentation | Artwork |
| David with the Head of Goliath by Caravaggio: The Borghese Painting | 1606–07 or 1609–10 in the Galleria Borghese catalogue; the later Naples period is favoured by many scholars, while the owner keeps the question open | Artwork |
| David with the Head of Goliath by Caravaggio: The Prado Painting | about 1600 in Prado material; “1599” survives only in the legacy URL | Artwork |
| David with the Head of Goliath by Caravaggio: The Vienna Painting | about 1600–01 in the KHM's 2019 exhibition record; “1607” is a legacy route label | Artwork |
| Did Caravaggio Make Drawings? What Survives and What Paintings Reveal | — | Guide |
| Ecce Homo: Caravaggio's Madrid Rediscovery and the Genoa Painting | — | Artwork |
| John the Baptist in Caravaggio's Paintings: A Guide to the Different Versions | — | Artwork |
| Judith Beheading Holofernes by Caravaggio | beginning of the seventeenth century in the owning museum's account; about 1599–1600 in the Kimbell's 2025 loan label; around 1602 in one specialist catalogue | Artwork |
| Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto: Caravaggio's Ludovisi Ceiling | about 1597; the archive connects the work with Cardinal del Monte's 1597 commission | Artwork |
| Madonna and Child with Saint Anne by Caravaggio: The Palafrenieri Altarpiece | 1605 in the Galleria Borghese object field; completed and delivered by 8 April 1606 | Artwork |
| Madonna of Loreto by Caravaggio: The Pilgrims at Sant'Agostino | broadly c.1604–06; institutional records differ slightly in their starting year | Artwork |
| Madonna of the Rosary by Caravaggio: The Vienna Altarpiece | around 1603 in the Kunsthistorisches Museum's object record | Artwork |
| Martha and Mary Magdalene by Caravaggio: The Detroit Painting | about 1598 in the Detroit Institute of Arts record | Artwork |
| Medusa by Caravaggio: The Uffizi Painted Shield | 1596–98 in the Uffizi's virtual exhibition; specialist research reports the shield delivered to the Medici wardrobe by 7 September 1598 | Artwork |
| Narcissus, Attributed to Caravaggio | dependent on attribution; the Zeri catalogue gives a broad 1610–50 range under Spadarino | Artwork |
| Nativity with Saint Francis and Saint Lawrence: Caravaggio's Missing Painting | somewhere in 1600–09 in the parliamentary report; a specific 1609 execution and place remain debated | Artwork |
| Penitent Mary Magdalene by Caravaggio | 1597 in the owner's catalogue, during Caravaggio's early Roman activity | Artwork |
| Portrait of a Courtesan: Caravaggio's Lost Berlin Portrait | Berlin's data field says c.1590, while its own text compares a Caravaggio work of c.1598; precise date unresolved | Artwork |
| Portrait of Alof de Wignacourt and His Page by Caravaggio | — | Artwork |
| Portrait of Fra Antonio Martelli? Caravaggio's Pitti Knight of Malta | 1608 in the Restituzioni object heading; within Caravaggio's Malta period | Artwork |
| Portrait of Maffeo Barberini: The Seated Corsini Painting | c.1596–97 in the national catalogue | Artwork |
| Portrait of Monsignor Maffeo Barberini: Caravaggio's Newly Acquired Painting | around the late 1590s / age thirty; “1598” in the inherited address is approximate, not an exact document date | Artwork |
| Portrait of Pope Paul V: A Caravaggio Attribution and a Borghese Copy | — | Artwork |
| Prints After Caravaggio: Who Made Them and What They Show | — | Guide |
| Reclining Saint John the Baptist: A Disputed Caravaggio Attribution | often proposed for the artist's final years; the later museum list does not give a precise year. | Artwork |
| Rest on the Flight into Egypt by Caravaggio | about 1597 in the owner's catalogue | Artwork |
| Saint Catherine of Alexandria by Caravaggio: The Thyssen Painting | about 1598–99 in the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza catalogue | Artwork |
| Saint Francis in Meditation by Caravaggio: The Cremona Painting | 1603–06 in the owner account; c.1605–06 in a KHM exhibition caption | Artwork |
| Saint Francis in Prayer: Caravaggio's Carpineto Painting | 1606 in a 2016–17 exhibition work list | Artwork |
| Saint Francis of Assisi in Ecstasy by Caravaggio | c.1595–96 in the owner wall text | Artwork |
| Saint Jerome in Meditation: Caravaggio's Montserrat Painting | 1605 in the owner record; an owner publication reports scholarship placing it about 1605–06 | Artwork |
| Saint Jerome Writing by Caravaggio: The Borghese Painting | c.1606 in the owner catalogue; the “1605” URL suffix is inherited | Artwork |
| Saint Jerome Writing by Caravaggio: The Malta Painting | around 1607–08; foundation dates Malaspina's commission to 1608 | Artwork |
| Saint John in the Wilderness at Toledo Cathedral | exact 1598 not established by the cited cathedral account. | Artwork |
| Saint John the Baptist at Galleria Corsini, Rome | about 1606 in the national record; older proposals ranged from the late 1590s onward. | Artwork |
| Saint John the Baptist at the Capitoline Museums, Rome | 1602. | Artwork |
| Saint John the Baptist at the Galleria Borghese | 1609–10 in the current Borghese record. | Artwork |
| Saint John the Baptist at the Spring: The Bonello Painting in Malta | early seventeenth century in the institutional account; a precise 1608 is not established there. | Artwork |
| Saint Matthew and the Angel: Caravaggio's Lost First Altarpiece | — | Artwork |
| Salome Receives the Head of John the Baptist: Caravaggio's London Painting | about 1609–10, likely late Naples period in the Gallery's account | Artwork |
| Salome with the Head of John the Baptist: Caravaggio's Madrid Painting | — | Artwork |
| Sleeping Cupid by Caravaggio: The Painting Made in Malta | about 1608, Malta period | Artwork |
| Still Life with Fruit on a Stone Ledge: Is It by Caravaggio? | — | Artwork |
| Supper at Emmaus (1606): Caravaggio's Brera Painting | — | Artwork |
| The Annunciation by Caravaggio in Nancy | c.1607–10 in the collection record; 1608–10 in the museum's restoration account | Artwork |
| The Basel Saint John the Baptist: Once Labelled Caravaggio, Now Maíno | about 1608–10 in that schedule, rather than the legacy URL's 1600. | Artwork |
| The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist by Caravaggio | about 1608; installed in the Oratory on 29 August 1608 | Artwork |
| The Burial of Saint Lucy by Caravaggio in Syracuse | 1608, during Caravaggio's Syracuse stay | Artwork |
| The Calling of Saint Matthew by Caravaggio | about 1599–1600 | Artwork |
| The Calling of Saints Peter and Andrew by Caravaggio | about 1602–04 in the Trust's object text | Artwork |
| The Cardsharps by Caravaggio | about 1596–97 in the Kimbell's current object record | Artwork |
| The Conversion of Saint Paul: Caravaggio's Odescalchi Panel | commissioned in 1600; painted around 1600–01 | Artwork |
| The Crucifixion of Saint Andrew by Caravaggio | 1606–07 | Artwork |
| The Crucifixion of Saint Peter by Caravaggio | about 1601 | Artwork |
| The Death of the Virgin by Caravaggio | commissioned 1601; completed late 1605 or early 1606, according to the Louvre | Artwork |
| The Denial of Saint Peter by Caravaggio | 1610 | Artwork |
| The Doria Pamphilj Saint John the Baptist: A Second Youth with a Ram | linked compositionally to the Capitoline 1602 picture; an exact production year for this canvas is not established by the owner pages used here. | Artwork |
| The Entombment of Christ by Caravaggio: The Vatican Deposition | about 1600–04 in Vatican Museums publication material | Artwork |
| The Flagellation of Christ by Caravaggio: The Capodimonte Altarpiece | around 1607, in the first Naples period | Artwork |
| The Fortune Teller by Caravaggio: The Louvre Version and Its Roman Counterpart | — | Artwork |
| The Holy Family with the Infant Saint John the Baptist by Caravaggio | early 1600s in the Met catalogue; no more exact owner date asserted here | Artwork |
| The Incredulity of Saint Thomas by Caravaggio | about 1601 in the SPSG presentation | Artwork |
| The Inspiration of Saint Matthew by Caravaggio | usually 1602; also catalogued 1602–03, for the installed final altarpiece | Artwork |
| The Lute Player by Caravaggio: The Hermitage Painting | about 1596 in the Hermitage collection publication; the Hermitage Friends restoration page gives about 1595–96 | Artwork |
| The Magdalen in Ecstasy: Caravaggio, Copies and a Disputed Original | — | Artwork |
| The Martyrdom of Saint Matthew by Caravaggio | 1599–1600; unveiled with The Calling in 1600 | Artwork |
| The Martyrdom of Saint Ursula by Caravaggio | — | Artwork |
| The Musicians by Caravaggio | 1597 | Artwork |
| The Resurrection of Lazarus by Caravaggio in Messina | 1609; delivered 10 June 1609 in the owner account | Artwork |
| The Sacrifice of Isaac by Bartolomeo Cavarozzi: A Former Caravaggio Attribution | about 1615–17 in the Nicholas Hall catalogue; “1598” is an inherited URL label, not the accepted date | Artwork |
| The Sacrifice of Isaac by Caravaggio: The Uffizi Painting | about 1603 in the Uffizi catalogue | Artwork |
| The Seven Works of Mercy by Caravaggio | 1606–07, according to the Pio Monte | Artwork |
| The Supper at Emmaus by Caravaggio: The London Painting | 1601 | Artwork |
| The Taking of Christ by Caravaggio | 1602 | Artwork |
| The Toulouse *Judith Beheading Holofernes*: A Caravaggio Attribution Debate | c.1606–07 if identified with the recorded Naples work; that identification is debated | Artwork |
| Young Sick Bacchus by Caravaggio | about 1595 in the Galleria Borghese catalogue | Artwork |
| Youth with a Ram: Why Caravaggio's Saint John Looks So Unusual | — | Artwork |
No matching pages found.
Discussion
Share a close observation about Salome with the Head of John the Baptist or a source that clarifies its history.
Which detail changes your reading?
Is there a collection record or document worth comparing?
What remains uncertain?
Join the Conversation
Frequently Asked Questions
Which Caravaggio Salome is in Madrid?
The earlier red-cloaked composition, dated about 1607 by the Galería de las Colecciones Reales, inventory 10010026.[1]
How is it different from the London version?
How large is it?
Did the painting survive the Alcázar fire?
References
- Galería de las Colecciones Reales, Caravaggio, Salomé con la cabeza del Bautista, object record.
- Patrimonio Nacional, 2023 dossier of ten featured works in the Galería de las Colecciones Reales.
- National Gallery, London, Caravaggio, Salome receives the Head of John the Baptist, object record and comparison with Madrid.
- Vatican, Mark 6:16–29.
- Pio Monte della Misericordia, Caravaggio and the Seven Works of Mercy.
- St John's Co-Cathedral Foundation, Caravaggio at the Co-Cathedral.
