SOLE, Giovan Gioseffo dal

Italian painter and engraver. He was the son of Giovanni Antonio Maria dal Sole (1606-1684), a landscape painter who had been taught by Francesco Albani. Giovanni Gioseffo first apprenticed with Domenico Maria Canuti, and then in 1672, he entered the Roman studio of Lorenzo Pasinelli. He painted frescoes in the cupola of Santa Maria dei Poveri in Bologna, and an altarpiece of the Trinity (1700) for the chiesa del Suffragio in Imola. He is said to have collaborated with Giuseppe Maria Crespi.

He was one of the painters who contributed to painting mythologic scenes for the renowned Aeneid Gallery of the Palazzo Buonaccorsi in Macerata; a decoration that employed many of the premier artists of his day. Two paintings, Diana with Cupids and Ecstasy of the Magdalen are found in the Palazzo Spalletti-Trivelli in Bologna. There is a Salome with the St John the Baptist in the Fitzwilliam Museum attributed to Giovanni Gioseffo. He also frescoed the Palazzo Mansi in Lucca with a Judgement of Paris.

He had many pupils, among them Felice Torelli and Donato Creti.

Salome with the Head of St John the Baptist

The biblical source for the painting is Matthew 14:6-11 or Mark 6:21-8, where the daughter of Herodias danced for her stepfather, Herod, on his birthday. As a reward he promised her anything she wanted and, prompted by her mother, she chose the head of Saint John the Baptist, which she then carried to Herodias on a silver charger. The daughter subsequently became known in literature as Salome, and the theme was memorably treated in the nineteenth century by Richard Strauss and Oscar Wilde amongst others.

You can view other depictions of Salome with the Head of John the Baptist.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 15 minutes):

Richard Strauss: Salome, closing scene

Personification of the Visual Arts Appearing to a Pope

Salome with the Head of St John the Baptist