The Dance at the Court of Herod

The Dance at the Court of Herod — Israhel van Meckenem. c. 1500.

Medium: engraving. Dimensions: Image: 21.5 x 31.5 cm (8 7/16 x 12 3/8 in.); Sheet: 21.5 x 31.5 cm (8 7/16 x 12 3/8 in.).

Collection record: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland. Museum connection according to this source; current display unverified.

In this imaginative composition, Meckenem combines John the Baptist’s beheading with a courtly promenade. The religious narrative’s gruesome episodes occur in the background, where Salome collects the saint’s severed head on a platter and then presents it at Herod’s banquet table. Salome appears a third time in the foreground, where she dances with a lusty suitor who grabs her waist instead of politely holding her hand.

Source: official collection record. Metadata selected and normalized by Artline from the source export, accessed 10 September 2026; no museum endorsement. Reproduction rights are separate.