Herod's banquet

Gaspar van den Hoecke (Antwerp, 1585 – 1648)
Herod's banquet

Early 17th century
oil on panel, with gold highlights (in Salome's clothes and in the curtains of the palace in the background)
56 x 80 cm., framed 72 x 90 cm.

Complete details of the work: https://www.antichitacastelbarco.it/it/prodotti/il-banchetto-di-erode-Gaspar-van-den-Hoecke

Valuable oil painting on panel depicting King Herod and the beautiful Jewish princess Salome according to the episode taken from the Gospel of Matthew (14,3-11), which sees her as the protagonist in the story of the martyrdom of John the Baptist. The event shown is a cross between history and legend, a myth favored for centuries by artists of all fields: Caravaggio in painting, Oscar Wilde in theatre, Richard Strauss in music. In the artistic model, Salome, a young unconscious instrument of revenge for her mother, becomes the symbol of lust.
On the occasion of King Herod's birthday, Salome, the attractive daughter of Herodias, his lover, performed a seductive dance for the pleasure of the guests. Her dance was so well received that Herod promised to give her anything she wanted as a reward, even part of her kingdom if she wanted.

The young woman went to her mother to ask for advice, and Herodias, moved by resentment against John the Baptist, ordered her to request the Saint's head on a plate. Salome, an unaware victim of her mother's wishes, becomes the perpetrator of the Saint's murder, achieved with skill and cunning, and during the banquet she presents his head on a silver tray as if it were a trophy. We see the King react with disdain to this situation, while the two women appear indifferent to the consequences of his gesture, standing at the other end of the table in a gold-colored dress and a plunging neckline.

In the background, on the left, the event that precedes the main representation, i.e. the martyrdom and decapitation of the Baptist, which takes place inside a barren prison with barred windows, is represented in optical synchronism, in clear contrast to the situation of opulence in the foreground.

The splendid painting is a work, given its pictorial quality, attributable to the workshop of the painter Gaspar van den Hoecke (1585 – 1648)), one of the greatest masters of the first Flemish Baroque of Antwerp, whose works are strongly influenced by the pictorial influence of Frans Francken, a reference artist for the southern Dutch school, and with whom they have often been confused due to the clear stylistic similarity.

For comparison, see the two works by Van den Hoeche:
– Parable of Lazarus and the rich man (https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gaspar_van_den_Hoecke_%E2%80%93_Lazarus_and_the_Rich_Man%27s_Table.jpg)
– Belshazzar's Feast, New York, Sotheby's, 24.01.08, lot 210 (https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2008/important-old-master-paintings-including-european-works- of-art-n08404/lot.210.html)

As we can see, his paintings, dominated by figures treated with extreme care and cloaked in large, pompous dresses, are rendered with an intense chromatic splendor and characterized by a refinement in the choice of pigments typical of the high-level Flemish school. The studied gestures of the actors and their intense mimicry are supporters of the strong narrative tension that transpires from the table, and rendered with extreme realism and definition.
The table is in excellent condition and does not show any particular restorations upon analysis of the wood lamp. Gilded wooden frame, not contemporary.

For further information you are welcome to contact us.
Painting accompanied by a certificate of photographic authenticity in accordance with the law.