Francisco Jiménez Maza

FRANCISCO JIMÉNEZ MAZA (Tarazona, 1598-Zaragoza, 1670).
"Salome presenting the head of St. John the Baptist".
Oil on canvas.
Preserves original canvas.
Measurements: 108 x 159 cm; 129 x 181 cm (frame).
This work stands out for its narrative unity, since all the characters can be seen unified almost in the foreground and arranged as a frieze. In the left zone Salome carries the head of Saint John, while at the other end of the table Herod can be appreciated, with a dejected gesture with respect to the act that he has just allowed. It emphasizes the dramatism with which the scene is presented to the public, since all the characters are in profile in such a way that the spectator seems to be part of the scene and is located at the other end of the table. Herodias, wife of Herod Philip, scandalously married his half-brother, Herod Antipas, which provoked a war, since Herod Antipas had repudiated his previous wife, daughter of the Nabataean monarch. The attitude of the new marriage was very criticized by the people, since it was considered sinful, and one of those who denounced it most was John the Baptist, for which he was arrested, although Herod did not dare to execute him for fear of the popular wrath. According to tradition, Salome, a woman of great beauty, danced for her stepfather, and he enthusiastically offered to grant her the prize she desired. Then the young woman asked, following her mother's instructions, for the Baptist's head, which was given to her "on a silver platter".
Francisco Jiménez Maza was a Spanish artist of the Baroque period who developed his career in the region of Aragon. Coming from a noble family of Tarazona, he undertook a trip to Rome in his youth to study painting. Throughout his life, he worked intensively in various churches located in the current provinces of Zaragoza and Teruel. According to Jusepe Martínez, he excelled especially in his use of color and his skill in drawing, although his talent in composition was less notable. He seems to have produced a large number of works, which, it is said, diminished to some extent the splendor of his legacy. Among his works are an "Adoration of the Kings" - a copy of Rubens - made around 1645 for a chapel dedicated to the Epiphany in the Cathedral of Teruel; a painting of the "Coming of the Virgin of Pilar to Zaragoza" of 1655, which is preserved in the city's town hall; and the frescoes of the dome and the canvases of the series on San Pedro Arbués in La Seo de Zaragoza, in the chapel of San Pedro Arbués, also from 1655.