Details

Provenance

Spanish Royal collection, Alcázar de Madrid, Galeria del Mediodia, recorded between 1666 and 1700 (see note); Le Camus family (according to a red wax seal on the verso); Possibly M. de Merval, and his sale, Paris, 9 May 1768 ("Hériodiade à qui des guerriers apportent la tête de St. Jean" [see Rooses 1888]); Private collector, Montargis, France; By whom sold, Fontainebleau, Drouot, 14 June 1987, no lot number, (as “Studio of Rubens”); Where acquired by Charles Bailly; By whom anonymously sold, New York, Sotheby’s, 30 January 1998, lot 137; Where acquired by Otto Naumann, Ltd., New York, and Alfred Bader, Milwaukee; From whom acquired by Steve Wynn, Las Vegas, 1998; By whom sold with property holdings to MGM Grand, Las Vegas, 2000; From whom acquired by the present collectors, 2000.

Exhibited

London, National Gallery, on loan, by 2003; London, National Gallery, Rubens: A Master in the Making, 26 October 2005 – 15 January 2006, no. 80.

Literature

G. Cruzada Villaamil, Rubens, diplomático español, Madrid 1874, pp. 308-309; M. Rooses, L’Oeuvre de P.P. Rubens, Antwerp 1888, vol. 2, pp. 8-9, cat. no. 240; G. Vitaletti, Salome nelle leggenda e nell'arte , Rome 1908; H. Daffner, Salome, ihre Gestalt in Geschichte und Kunst: Dichtung, bildende Kunst, Musik , Munich 1912, pp. 23, 29-30, 111; A. Pigler, Barockthemen. Eine Auswahl von Verzeichnissen zur Iconographie des 17. und 18. Jahrhunderts, Budapest 1956, vol. I, p. 474-475; Y. Bottineau, "L'Alcazar de Madrid et l'inventaire de 1686: Aspects de la cour d'Espagne aux XVIIe siecle," Bulletin Hispanique, 1958, p. 311; J.S. Held, Rubens, Selected Drawings , with an Introduction and a Critical Catalogue , London 1959, p. 107 L. Burchard and R. d’Hulst, Rubens Drawings, Brussels 1963, pp. 74-75, under cat. no. 42; J. Müller-Hofstede, “Abraham Janssens,” in Jahrbuch der Berliner Museen (1964), especially pp. 293-295 (where he discusses the lost prototype by Rubens); J.B. Knipping, Iconography of the Counter Reformation in the Netherlands: Heaven on Earth , Nieuwkoop 1974, vol. I, pp. 223-224; P.P. Rubens; Paintings, Oil Sketches, Drawings, exhibition catalogue, Antwerp 1977, pp. 292-293, under cat. no. 128 (as lost); A.M. Logan, “Rubens Exhibitions 1977-78,” in Master Drawings 16 (Winter 1978), p. 443, under cat. no. 36 (referring to the “lost” painting); E. Hubala, “Triumph der Weibermacht, Bemerkungen zu einer Komposition von Rubens,” in Festschrift Herbert Siebenhuner , Würzburg 1978, pp. 143-164 (iconographic discussion of the “lost” Rubens painting with illustrations of many copies after it); J.S. Held, The Oil Sketches of Peter Paul Rubens, Princeton 1980, vol. 1, p. 572, under cat. no. 414 (see note); D. Bodart, Rubens , Milan 1985, p. 156; J.S. Held, Rubens, Selected Drawings, with an Introduction and a Critical Catalogue , rev. ed., New York 1986, p. 94; S.N. Orso, Philip IV and the Decoration of the Alcazar of Madrid , Princeton 1986, p. 147; M. Jaffé, Rubens, Catalogo completo, Milan 1989, p. 170, cat. no. 115, reproduced (dated 1609-1610); D. Bodart (ed.), Pietro Paolo Rubens (1577– 640), exhibition catalogue, Padua 1990, p. 72, under cat. no. 17; P. Sutton and M. Wieseman, Old Master Paintings , New York 1999, pp. 80-85, no. 27; Historians of Netherlandish Art Newsletter and Review of Books, vol. 16, no. 1, 1999, p. 10, reproduced fig. 7; P. Sutton, in The Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art: European and American Masters , L. Lumpkin (ed.), Las Vegas 1999, pp. 21-24, reproduced; D. Jaffe and A. Bradley, Rubens: The Massacre of the Innocents, exhibition catalogue, London 2003, pp. 3, 13-14, reproduced fig. 24; A.M. Logan and M. Plomp, Peter Paul Rubens: The Drawings, exhibition catalogue, New York 2005, pp. 121-122, under cat. no. 26, reproduced fig. 66; D. Jaffé and E. McGrath, Rubens: A Master in the Making, exhibition catalogue, London 2005, p. 171, cat. no. 80, reproduced in color p. 173 and in detail p. 172 (as dated 1608-9); D. Jaffé, Massacre of the Innocents, 2009, pp. 38, reproduced p. 40, fig. 15; K. Bulckens, Corpus Rubenianum Ludwig Burchard. Part V (2), The Ministry of Christ, London & Turnhout 2017, pp. 5962, no. 5, reproduced fig. 30; G.P. Streete, The Salome Project: Salome and Her Afterlives , Eugene 2018, pp. 42 and 59.

Catalog summary

Baroque: Masterpieces from the Fisch Davidson Collection Sir Peter Paul Rubens Siegen 1577 - 1640 Antwerp Salome presented with the head of Saint John the Baptist oil on oak panel panel: 37 by 40⅛ in.; 94 by 101.8 cm. framed: 49¼ by 54 in.; 125.1 by 137.2 cm. Provenance Spanish Royal collection, Alcázar de Madrid, Galeria del Mediodia, recorded between 1666 and 1700 (see note); Le Camus family (according to a red wax seal on the verso); Possibly M. de Merval, and his sale, Paris, 9 May 1768 ("Hériodiade à qui des guerriers apportent la tête de St. Jean" [see Rooses 1888]); Private collector, Montargis, France; By whom sold, Fontainebleau, Drouot, 14 June 1987, no lot number, (as “Studio of Rubens”); Where acquired by Charles Bailly; By whom anonymously sold, New York, Sotheby’s, 30 January 1998, lot 137; Where acquired by Otto Naumann, Ltd., New York, and Alfred Bader, Milwaukee; From whom acquired by Steve Wynn, Las Vegas, 1998; By whom sold with property holdings to MGM Grand, Las Vegas, 2000; From whom acquired by the present collectors, 2000. Literature G. Cruzada Villaamil, Rubens, diplomático español, Madrid 1874, pp. 308-309; M. Rooses, L’Oeuvre de P.P. Rubens, Antwerp 1888, vol. 2, pp. 8-9, cat. no. 240; G. Vitaletti, Salome nelle leggenda e nell'arte , Rome 1908; H. Daffner, Salome, ihre Gestalt in Geschichte und Kunst: Dichtung, bildende Kunst, Musik , Munich 1912, pp. 23, 29-30, 111; A. Pigler, Barockthemen. Eine Auswahl von Verzeichnissen zur Iconographie des 17. und 18. Jahrhunderts, Budapest 1956, vol. I, p. 474-475; Y. Bottineau, "L'Alcazar de Madrid et l'inventaire de 1686: Aspects de la cour d'Espagne aux XVIIe siecle," Bulletin Hispanique, 1958, p. 311; J.S. Held, Rubens, Selected Drawings , with an Introduction and a Critical Catalogue , London 1959, p. 107 L. Burchard and R. d’Hulst, Rubens Drawings, Brussels 1963, pp. 74-75, under cat. no. 42; J. Müller-Hofstede, “Abraham Janssens,” in Jahrbuch der Berliner Museen (1964), especially pp. 293-295 (where he discusses the lost prototype by Rubens); J.B. Knipping, Iconography of the Counter Reformation in the Netherlands: Heaven on Earth , Nieuwkoop 1974, vol. I, pp. 223-224; P.P. Rubens; Paintings, Oil Sketches, Drawings, exhibition catalogue, Antwerp 1977, pp. 292-293, under cat. no. 128 (as lost); A.M. Logan, “Rubens Exhibitions 1977-78,” in Master Drawings 16 (Winter 1978), p. 443, under cat. no. 36 (referring to the “lost” painting); E. Hubala, “Triumph der Weibermacht, Bemerkungen zu einer Komposition von Rubens,” in Festschrift Herbert Siebenhuner , Würzburg 1978, pp. 143-164 (iconographic discussion of the “lost” Rubens painting with illustrations of many copies after it); J.S. Held, The Oil Sketches of Peter Paul Rubens, Princeton 1980, vol. 1, p. 572, under cat. no. 414 (see note); D. Bodart, Rubens , Milan 1985, p. 156; J.S. Held, Rubens, Selected Drawings, with an Introduction and a Critical Catalogue , rev. ed., New York 1986, p. 94; S.N. Orso, Philip IV and the Decoration of the Alcazar of Madrid , Princeton 1986, p. 147; M. Jaffé, Rubens, Catalogo completo, Milan 1989, p. 170, cat. no. 115, reproduced (dated 1609-1610); D. Bodart (ed.), Pietro Paolo Rubens (1577– 640), exhibition catalogue, Padua 1990, p. 72, under cat. no. 17; P. Sutton and M. Wieseman, Old Master Paintings , New York 1999, pp. 80-85, no. 27; Historians of Netherlandish Art Newsletter and Review of Books, vol. 16, no. 1, 1999, p. 10, reproduced fig. 7; P. Sutton, in The Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art: European and American Masters , L. Lumpkin (ed.), Las Vegas 1999, pp. 21-24, reproduced; D. Jaffe and A. Bradley, Rubens: The Massacre of the Innocents, exhibition catalogue, London 2003, pp. 3, 13-14, reproduced fig. 24; A.M. Logan and M. Plomp, Peter Paul Rubens: The Drawings, exhibition catalogue, New York 2005, pp. 121-122, under cat. no. 26, reproduced fig. 66; D. Jaffé and E. McGrath, Rubens: A Master in the Making, exhibition catalogue, London 2005, p. 171, cat. no. 80, reproduced in color p. 173 and in detail p. 172 (as dated 1608-9); D. Jaffé, Massacre of the Innocents, 2009, pp. 38, reproduced p. 40, fig. 15; K. Bulckens, Corpus Rubenianum Ludwig Burchard. Part V (2), The Ministry of Christ, London & Turnhout 2017, pp. 5962, no. 5, reproduced fig. 30; G.P. Streete, The Salome Project: Salome and Her Afterlives , Eugene 2018, pp. 42 and 59. Exhibited London, National Gallery, on loan, by 2003; London, National Gallery, Rubens: A Master in the Making, 26 October 2005 – 15 January 2006, no. 80.