These images are provided for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons License (BY-NC-ND). To license a high resolution version, please contact our image library who will discuss fees, terms and waivers.
Download this imageCreative commons explained - what it means, how you can use our's and other people's content.
The Feast of Herod
Production: Unknown
Tapestry depicting the Feast of Herod. The top panel depicts a variety of characters and scenes including the Virgin with Child and the Adoration of the Magi. The lower panel shows Herod and Herodias, both crowned, as the principal figures at a lavish banquet. The hall has magnificent columns and leaded glass windows. Below on the floor, Salome is sedately dancing with her partner, the music being provided by a trumpeter. On the far left Salome, standing under the leafy canopy of a big tree, accepts St. John's head on a platter. Our Lord is hovering in the cloud above this scene.
Given by Mrs Beasley
Length: 6'2.1/4" ft
Width: 5'1.7/8" ft
Method of acquisition: Given (1945-01-14) by Beasley, Mrs
17th Century#
Production date:
AD 1685
Label text from the exhibition ‘Feast and Fast: The Art of Food in Europe, 1500–1800’, on display at The Fitzwilliam Museum from 26 November 2019 until 31 August 2020: The Feast of Herod Most likely made as a wedding present to decorate a new marital home, the brutality and sordid aspects of the blood-chilling story of Herod’s feast have been marginalised to leave a scene of multi-sensory feasting. Herod and his new wife are seated behind a table laden with pyramidal food compositions and various heaped platters; a servant carries in an ornate pie. Bottom right, Salome holds a platter with the head of John the Baptist, who was executed for having criticised the incest of Herod, reminding viewers of the dangers of food, greed, and sexual lust.
Thirteen Norwegian tapestries of this subject are known
Accession number: T.2-1945
Primary reference Number: 77892
Stable URI
Owner or interested party:
The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department:
Applied Arts
This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:
The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "The Feast of Herod" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/77892 Accessed: 2024-11-14 03:00:00
To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:
{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/77892
|title=The Feast of Herod
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-11-14 03:00:00|publisher=The
University of Cambridge}}
To call these data via our API (remember this needs to be authenticated) you can use this code snippet:
https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/api/v1/objects/object-77892
To use this as a simple code embed, copy this string:
<div class="text-center">
<figure class="figure">
<img src="https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/aa/aa10/T_2_1945_281_29.jpg"
alt="The Feast of Herod"
class="img-fluid" />
<figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">The Feast of Herod</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
Updates about future exhibitions and displays, family activities, virtual events & news. You'll be the first to know...
