Roman follower of Caravaggio and Simon Vouet, circa 1620-25

Private collection, France;
With Heim Gallery, London, 1968 (as Vouet);
Private collection, England;
Anonymous sale, London, Sotheby's, 10 July 1974, lot 97 (as Vouet);
There acquired by I. Kreisler;
With Heim Gallery, London (as Vouet);
There acquired by the present collector in 1980. 

B. Nicolson, "Current and Forthcoming Exhibitions: French Pictures chez Heim," The Burlington Magazine, August 1968, p. 475, reproduced fig. 65;
A. Brejon and J.-P. Cuzin, Valentin et les Caravagesque français, Paris 1973-74, p. 257 (as by an unknown student or follower of Vouet);
B. Nicolson, The International Caravaggesque Movement, Oxford 1979, p. 110 (as by a follower of Vouet, reflecting his Caravaggesque phase);
B. Nicolson, Caravaggism in Europe, 2nd ed., Oxford 1990, p. 212, reproduced vol. II, fig. 752 (as by a follower of Vouet, reflecting his Caravaggesque phase).

The author of this powerful yet restrained and elegant depiction of Salome with the head of Saint John the Baptist has continued to elude scholars, though the influence of Simon Vouet, and specifically his Roman Caravaggesque period, is evident.  One of the most important and influential French artists of the seventeenth century, Simon Vouet was born in Paris but moved to Italy in 1613, and though he spent time in Venice, Naples, Bologna, Milan and Florence, it was in Rome where his career flourished.  Caravaggio had died in 1610 but left an indelible mark on the city, as painters like Vouet absorbed his powerful realism and dramatic use of chiaroscuro, advancing his aesthetic legacy for generations to come. 

Vouet received a pension from King Louis XIII and remained in Italy for fourteen years, absorbing the influences of the Caravaggisti as well as the more classicizing styles of the Carracci and Guido Reni.  Upon returning to Paris in 1627, Vouet became the Premier peintre du Roi, a title he held until his death in 1649. Vouet's influence on French painting in the 17th century cannot be overstated: he is credited with bringing the Italian Baroque to France, where it captured the attention of a whole new generation of artists.