Herodias Receiving the Head of Saint John the Baptist

Herodias Receiving the Head of Saint John the Baptist is a powerful, expressive drawing attributed to the great Flemish Baroque master, Possibly Peter Paul Rubens Flemish, 1577-1640. Created during the long span of the artist's active career (1597-1640), this highly finished sheet demonstrates the sophisticated graphic techniques essential to artistic production in Belgium during the 17th century.

The medium is complex, showcasing Rubens's mastery of draftsmanship. The artist employed black chalk as the primary drawing material, overlaid and supplemented by brushwork using black ink. Depth and volume are achieved through subtle gray and brown washes, while highlights of lead white, which have partially discolored, serve to emphasize the drama. The drawing was executed on tan laid paper before being mounted onto a supportive sheet of blue laid paper, a common practice for preserving important studies.

The biblical subject depicts the macabre moment when Salome’s mother, Herodias, receives the freshly severed head of John the Baptist. This narrative allowed Rubens to explore intense psychological states and the dramatic interplay of light and shadow, characteristic features of the Baroque style. Such detailed studies were often used as modelli to present compositions to patrons or workshop assistants before being translated into larger panel paintings or even commissioned prints. This superb example of Baroque drawing is housed in the permanent collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, and as a pivotal work by Rubens, high-quality images of the composition are now widely available through public domain sources.