This work depicts the martyrdom of Saint John the Baptist due to the perfidy of Salome, who asked for his head after seducing King Herod with her dancing. Strobel, a painter of Polish origin, tells the story on an enormous stage that represents to moment of the martyrdom on the far right, where we can see the saint´s decapitated body. On the other side of the large column, the figure of Salome sho
This scene is notable for the technical difficulty involved in carving porphyry. It depicts two cherubs, one of whom represents Sacred Love and the other Profane Love. They are seen fighting and the former defeats the latter. The work is a copy of the marble relief by François Duquesnoy (1597-1643) made to decorate the garden of one of the Roman villas of the Doria-Pamphilj family. The pres