In Salome (Titian, Rome), how is the Salome, Judith, or Herodias? discussed?
The possible provenance of the painting begins in 1533, with a Judith by Titian recorded in the collection of Alfonso I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara, a very important patron of Titian.  No other surviving Titian painting seems to fit this record, so if it is not the painting now in Rome, it must be lost.  In 1592 Duke Alfonso's granddaughter, Lucrezia d'Este (1535–1598) owned a painting described as a "Herodias" (Salome's mother).  What is certainly the Doria Pamphilj painting belonged by 1603 to Cardinal Pietro Aldobrandini before passing to his niece Olimpia Aldobrandini, whose second husband was the ex-cardinal Camillo Pamphilj; since then it has passed by descent through the family.  In the 18th century the painting was called a Herodias, but a number of foreign visitors who saw it record thinking the main figure to be Judith.If the painting's main figure was Herodias, traditionally seen as the prime mover of the conspiracy to get John the Baptist executed, the younger woman next to her would be intended to represent her daughter Salome, here shown as a figure in thrall to her more glamorous mother.  The identification as Herodias seems to have no recent supporters, but that as Judith does.A medieval addition to the Salome legend held that, as well as her mother's hatred of John for his preaching against her, Salome was also motivated by a frustrated love for John, to which the cupid might refer.  Her face is turned away from his head, but her eyes look back to it.  Panofsky describes her as: "Meditative, sad and a little benumbed, she seems to recoil from the face of St. John which yet attracts her sidelong glances with irresistible force".  Meanwhile, the maid "looks at the heroine with the eyes of a faithful dog who feels and shares his master's distress without comprehending its cause".  Thus, in the pyramidal group of figures, the glances flow from the maid on the left, up to Salome at centre, and down to John at right, whose dead eyes are closed.
The use of erotic allure on male figures of power is the core of both stories, but to the church and Titian's contemporaries, Herodias and Salome were bad, but Judith a heroine.  Both stories were part of the repertoire of the Power of Women topos, mainly a feature of German art in this period, but whose subjects were also depicted in Italy.  The small Cupid at the top of the arch reinforces the eroticism of the treatment, suggesting either Salome's lust for John, (or Herod's implied attraction to Salome) or that of Holfernes for Judith, according to choice. It has also been suggested that the use of cupids on the keystone of arches was common in public buildings of the period in Venice, which "stresses the official nature of St. John's imprisonment and execution".The presence of a maidservant is usual in depictions of Judith (following the Book of Judith, which mentions her), but not in those of Salome with the head of John the Baptist.  On the other hand, the head on a dish is normally associated with Salome's story, and is mentioned in the gospel, while Judith often puts hers in a sack, or carries it by the hair, both also following the text of their story.  A single lock of hair falling over the face was considered highly alluring, and associated with courtesans, perhaps suggesting Salome is indeed the subject, though Judith is described as using every effort to dress seductively.The murky background at the left includes a fitting at the top, between the two women's heads, which is described as a lock by Panofsky, though it might be a hinge also.  This marks the vertical edge of a zone with a slightly different tint, perhaps showing the transition from a door to a wall. What could be an iron bar, or door top, is to the left of the fitting.  The Pasadena version also shows a fitting and change in colour.  This suggests the paintings show the women leaving the prison where John was killed, to return with the head to the head to Herod's feast, a version of the story often shown in art, though not exactly following the gospel, in which a soldier presents the head on a dish to Herod, who gives it to Salome, who in turn gives it to her mother.  The biblical text is very clear that Holofernes is assassinated in his tent in his camp, and the scene (rare in art) where Judith shows the head to the people of Bethulia happens at night inside the city gate, so the background of the painting is difficult to reconcile with a depiction of Judith.
Salome Rome provenance Cupid Olimpia Aldobrandini Titian Lucrezia d'Este (1535–1598) Camillo Pamphilj Holofernes Judith Bethulia Book of Judith John the Baptist Pasadena Power of Women Alfonso I d'Este Alfonso I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara Herodias Pietro Aldobrandini