MECKENEM, Israhel van the Younger
(b. 1440/45, Meckenheim, d. 1503, Bocholt)

Dance at the Court of Herod

c. 1500
Engraving, 216 x 314 mm
National Gallery of Art, Washington

In this print the main story is the beheading of St John the Baptist and the presentation of the severed head by Salome to Herod. However, both episodes have been reduced and removed to distant back chambers of the main event. The dance of Salome and the merry group of patricians who perform a sedate dance are placed in the foreground.