Lot 59: Attributed to Bartolomeo Veneto (Venice 1502-1555) Salome with the head of Saint John the Baptist in an 18th century Maratta frame

Salome with the head of Saint John the Baptist
oil on panel
42.3 x 53.3cm (16 5/8 x 21in).
in an 18th century Maratta frame

PROVENANCE:
Acquired by the present owner's father in the 1980s and thence by descent

After working at the beginning of his career in Venice, Bartolomeo Veneto was probably in Padua in 1512 and from 1520 was in Milan, where he made a name for himself as a fashionable portrait painter. In doing so he was responding to the Milanese portrait tradition which had recently been revitalized by Leonardo da Vinci and later developed by Andrea Solario. The present subject of Salome with the head of Saint John was also a particularly popular one for these two artists and their circle.