Renaissance

 

      The back story on John the Baptist, John was a profit but not just any profit.  The Gospels describe John the Baptist as being ordained by god as the precursor of Jesus.  He actually baptized Jesus. This man is considered a profit by multiple faiths even Islam.  He was called the baptist because he baptized those who repented their sins.  He didn’t really care about pleasing people and I think that’s what caused him to lose his head.  Whether he was talking about the hypocrisy of the religious establishment or talking about the immorality of King Herod’s second marriage to Salome’s mother he seemed to say whatever he believed even about a king.  

      I personally believe that women get the shaft when it comes to blame in world history.  As I am a woman, I believe we as a gender were expected to never upset men in any way.  If we were bold and stood out we were generally labeled a whore.  There are exceptions, however I am very glad that I was born in 1974 and not in the time of Salome or in the 1500 when this painting was painted.  I have always been fascinated by this story in the Bible.  

      My grandfather Samuel Woodson Bagwell ran for Senate as a Democrat in California. I have always loved politics due to it being fascinating and intriguing.  Politicians have lots of power and that power can be very scary.  It involves some of the most powerful people in the world.  Decisions that can affect millions of people are made.  Power can be toxic and I have a love hate relationship with politics.  It is fascinating from the outside but to be one of the players in politics that would be a hard no from me to have any involvement.  I was born when Nixon was president.  I believe American politics has gotten worse and turned into something that people can’t even stomach to talk about anymore.  It just gets so upsetting and this is from both sides of the political isle.  

     The 1953 film Salome is one of my favorites movies.  The leading lady in this movie name is Rita Hayworth and she plays Salome.  Watching this movie on the living room floor of my grandfather’s house on Turner Classic Movies I had thought about the Bible story.   I thought to myself.  Was Salome the villain?  How could she ask for John’s head on a platter? That’s not something most women could stomach.  There is nothing that John did directly to her.  John was attacking her mother’s marriage to the king though.  What did that mean to a woman back then?  Would the King just kill off his wife if it wasn’t working for him politically?  King Henry the VII, of England killed off his.  It is politics after all.  Did the king hate John for speaking against him and used this set up to behead a famous profit that had lots of followers and had such a connection to Jesus?  Was the king jealous of John and wanted to show that he was more powerful than John by beheading him?  Who knows the real story but royals were the politicians during this time period?  There could have been any reason, however one reason that makes no sense to me is this.  Why would a girl do such a thing to such a man with so many followers?  I do not believe that even a rich girl in a time when women were silent would do something on a whim.  I think she was told to do it by her mother or her step father the king.  I don’t think she had a choice.  The Bible gives one clue.  Salome gives the head to her mother.  That’s why John was beheaded.  I think the King ordered this show and had his step daughter deliver John's head on a platter to his wife to take up for her or because of the slight to himself.   I think he felt he couldn’t take the fall himself in case too many people rose up against him so he made his step daughter and wife look cruel instead of himself. 

     There are many pieces of art that have been created that depict John’s head on the platter.  My favorite is Salome with the Head of Saint John the Baptist ca.1507-9 by Italian artist Andrea Solario.  Solario was an Italian renaissance painter who was a follower of Leonardo da Vinci.  The painting is oil on wood and Andrea Solario traveled to France in 1507 when this painting was painted. 

     Due to the time period the piece was created in 1507 I believe that the reinvention of Rome on the Catholic Church was an influence on this piece.  This painter worked directly for Cardinal d’Amboise in France in 1507 so the church had to have influence on him.  However, Humanism and the importance of man being center of the universe was also taking place at this time.   This paining was a religious depiction but it was also the story and the feeling that there was not a large value on human life that draws me in.  

     What captures my attention about this piece is the unnatural color of John’s head.  The color has a non living yellow tone to it that captures the macabre with John’s grayish lips that don’t look alive at all.  I like how the painter was able to make the blood look like liquid.  I don’t paint and I’m googling how to make something look like liquid in oil paint.  The jewels on Salome dress and around her necklace have a 3D look to them that was created with shadowing.  The fabric on the clothes throughout her attire is very detailed.  The velvet green of the bodice is different from the blue crown which almost has a suede look to it.  There looks to be a linen fabric under the red on the arm of the dress that is more sheet like and the big gold flaps over her shoulders remind me of the thickness of my girls scout badges.  The clothes on the man arm, that is in the picture seems to be a satin quality.  I just love all of these layers of textures.  The arm of the dress is my favorite.  I just love how the fabrics bunches out and I love that cute little ruffle on the wrist.  I love that with older art I can see what life was like at a different time.  I never knew a crown could look like that but her crown and dress are marked by the layers and jewels that speak fortune and royalty to me.  This painting captures me not only in the painting itself but the history from the Bible.  The detail in this painting is remarkable even down to the reflection of Salmoe’s dress in the bowl.  The male right hand holding John’s head by the hair doesn’t even have a body attached to it yet I know its a male hand that comes off as hard and not caring about the head in his hand. He is also tanner than Salome and this makes me think he works outside.  The details on the arm make it come alive.  It’s perfectly done with creases in the right places and even a look of veins in the right place. I can’t draw hands so I’m kind of obsessed with people that can.  If I were holding a real human head a person would be able to tell that I was grossed out and not wanting to touch it.  Not this guy.  He’s just grabbing it firmly by the hair over a bowl and letting her look at it.  Her facial expression is unfeeling concerning the entire thing.  I would be a basket case to be involved in a death.  She’s just checking it out.  She comes off as neutral about the whole thing.  The man's arm looks the most real to me.  The deceased head of John looks real but I’ve never seen a dead person so I’m far from an expert. In Salome, there is something about the lack of detail in her skin color.  She’s royal so I get her being pale as she is not working but the barely there eyebrows, odd shaped upper lip and eye shape that fits the painting but doesn’t come off as real to me as clearly as the man's hand or John the baptist's head.  She seems to be looking in the bowl.  I can’t really tell where she’s actually looking as the eyes are missing that detail. I love the way the artist used such rich colors and got that translucent effect of the gems on Salome’s dress.  The decapitated head is at the center of the painting but Salome is the only person in the painting with more than one section of body.  One person is just an arm, the other is just a head but with Salome we get to see her from the waist up.  John and Salmoe’s heads are painted from different directions and for me that is kind of cool.  It shows me the artist could depict a very lifelike human form from several angles.  This painting shows complete opposites to me from a beautiful girl to a beheaded dead man. It’s got everything.   I just love it.

     I would not have this painting in my home as it is a bit gross but I do love it and see it as a masterpiece especially for a time in history when paint, color and training must have been near impossible to obtain.  Just trying to stay alive long enough to acquire this skill level is amazing for the 1500’s. 

“Salome With Saint John the Baptist.”Edited by MET, Metmuseum.org, The Met, 2000, https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/437699.

Artincontext. “High Renaissance Art - the Art and Artists of the High ItalianRenaissance.”artincontext.org, Artincontext, 2 Feb. 2022, https://artincontext.org/high-renaissance/.