Salome receiving the head of John the Baptist, surrounded by three men and a child bearing a torch, the Baptist's body lies on the ground, an oval composition 1605 - 1615

Editor: So, this print from 1605 to 1615, by Hendrick Goudt. It's called *Salome receiving the head of John the Baptist*—pretty self-explanatory! It's…intense. A dark etching with some pretty disturbing subject matter, of course. What do you see when you look at this work? Curator: You know, when I look at this, I think about the dramatic contrasts. Not just of light and dark, which Goudt uses masterfully, but the contrast in emotional temperature, too. Salome is almost indifferent, you see? A child bearing a torch innocently approaches while John the Baptist lays on the ground completely exposed in death, discarded. Is this simply to point a biblical lesson, or something deeper? Editor: That's fascinating – almost a performative indifference on Salome's part. Do you think that contrast was intended to heighten the moral message? Curator: Possibly. Or perhaps Goudt, who was influenced by Mannerism, was more interested in the drama of human psychology, in all its perverse beauty. What do you make of the oval composition? A 'looking glass' in time and space of morality at hand? Editor: I hadn’t considered that, I was too caught up with the violence! I do appreciate how it focuses all of that emotion. Framing the drama so intensely! Curator: Right? Like a spotlight, shining on one particularly gruesome story, asking us, perhaps, about our own capacity for darkness, for detachment in the face of suffering? Editor: Food for thought, definitely. The light, the form – it all amplifies the emotional discomfort. It is stuck with you after viewing it. Curator: Precisely! A visual puzzle, if you will, designed to stay with you long after you've moved on.