Herodias, by Thomas Matthews Rooke, RWS (1842-1942). 1895. Pencil, watercolour and gouache, heightened with gum arabic, on paper laid on card. 15 7/8 x 10 inches (40.5 x 25.5 cm). Private collection, image ©2021 Christie's Images Limited, reproduced here by kind permission (right click disabled; not to be downloaded).
In 1899 Rooke did a follow-up to his previous picture of Herod's Feast with another watercolour entitled Herodias. Herodias was a Jewish princess, the granddaughter of Herod the Great, and the wife and niece of Herod Antipas, the ruler of Galilee in northern Palestine from 4 BC to AD 39. She is best remembered for conspiring with her daughter Salome to arrange the execution of John the Baptist. She hated the prophet because he had condemned her immoral adulterous marriage to Herod Antipas after she had left her first husband, Herod Philip I, in order to marry his brother.
In view of her well-known role as a femme fatale Rooke has painted a rather benign-looking picture of Herodias as a bejewelled figure in her Royal purple robes holding aside a green curtain to peer outside a window in what is presumably the Royal palace. Is she possibly waiting for her daughter Salome to deliver the head of John the Baptist to her?
Bibliography
An Aesthetic Odyssey: The Peter Rose and Albert Gallichan Collection. London: Christie's (30 September 2021): lot 58, 68. https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-6336229?ldp_breadcrumb=back.
Created 17 January 2026