Salome with the Head of St John the Baptist

This painting is a characteristic example of Paolo Gerolamo Piola's skill as easel painter. It is a privately commissioned picture - the theme is treated like a portrait - which illustrates one of the crudest episodes drawn from the Gospels (Mark 6:14-29 and Matthew 14:1-12). The picture shows the influence of Roman classicism on Piola, specifically Carlo Maratti, whose pupil and friend Piola was.

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