Salome with the Head of St. John the Baptist
Benjamin West was the first American to achieve an international reputation as an artist and was very prominent in his day. He showed immense drawing talent as a child and developed his painting technique under the tuition of William Williams, an English amateur artist active in Philadelphia from 1746-7. West settled in London in 1763. His reputation grew rapidly. He became historical painter to George III and in 1792 succeeded Joshua Reynolds (1723-92) as President of the Royal Academy. He was a pioneer of large historical canvases in the neo-classical style. In common with many artists, in the spirit preached by Reynolds at the Royal Academy, he made copies after the old masters. This painting was one of several copies made in Rome in 1763 for Governor Hamilton and Chief Justice Allen in Philadelphia. In a letter West described this as 'a copy of Guido's [Guido Reni (1575-1642)] finest, Herodias in Cardinal Corsini's Palace'. Although he calls the painting Herodias it has also been called after Salome, the daughter of Herodias. The scene depicts the biblical account of the decapitation of John the Baptist (Mark 6:14-28).
