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Peter Paul Rubens’s Salome presented with the head of Saint John the Baptist sold for $26.9 million at Sotheby’s in New York on January 26, 2023. The $35 million figure was the high end of its pre-sale estimate—not the final price.
What happened at the auction?
Sotheby’s offered the painting in its January 26, 2023, Baroque: Masterpieces from the Fisch Davidson Collection sale. The auction house reported a $26.9 million result for the Rubens. The lot record lists an estimate of $25 million to $35 million and marks the auction as ended.
In October 2022, a Forbes report said the painting could fetch up to $35 million as it returned to auction. That was a pre-sale expectation, not a report of the eventual result. Forbes’s October 2022 preview, Sotheby’s January 2023 results report and the Sotheby’s lot record document the estimate and completed sale.
Which painting is it?
Sotheby’s identifies the artist as Sir Peter Paul Rubens and dates the painting to 1609. Its title is Salome presented with the head of Saint John the Baptist. The subject is Salome receiving the head of John the Baptist, a biblical episode often depicted in European art.
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The auction record describes the work as oil on oak panel, measuring 37 by 40⅛ inches (94 by 101.8 cm). These details identify the specific work that appeared in the sale, rather than a reproduction or another painting of the same subject.
How does the result compare with the estimate and earlier sale?
| Event | Figure | What it represents |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 Sotheby’s sale | $5.5 million | Price reported by Forbes in 2022 for the painting’s earlier auction appearance. |
| January 2023 estimate | $25–35 million | Sotheby’s pre-sale estimate for this lot. |
| January 2023 result | $26.9 million | Sale result reported by Sotheby’s. |
The 2023 result was within the estimate range, above its low end and below the $35 million high end. The figures describe historical auction estimates and reported prices; they do not establish the painting’s current value.
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- Artist: Rubens, Peter Paul
- Title: The Feast of Herod. Salome Bringing the Head of St John the Baptist on a Charger
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Why was the painting described as rarely seen?
Forbes reported that the painting had been thought lost, was rediscovered in a French family collection, and had been misattributed to a follower of Rubens. Sotheby’s preview says it was rediscovered in 1998. Forbes reported that it sold at Sotheby’s that year for $5.5 million, followed by a private sale to Steve Wynn. These are selected points in the painting’s history, not a complete ownership record.
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Sotheby’s lot record also says the work was recorded in the Spanish Royal Collection between 1666 and 1700. That archival provenance note is an earlier documented point; it does not by itself supply an unbroken chain of ownership from the royal collection to the present.
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- Artist: Peter Paul Rubens
- Title: The Feast of Herod. Salome Bringing the Head of St John the Baptist on a Charger (1600 – 1699)
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What was the wider Fisch Davidson sale result?
The Rubens was the leading lot in the collection’s ten-lot Old Masters sale. Sotheby’s reported that all ten lots sold and that the group totaled $49.6 million. That total is for the collection sale as a whole, not the Rubens alone.
The auction is complete: the lot record is marked ended, and Sotheby’s published the results in January 2023. The available records do not establish a current owner, a current asking price or another planned sale.
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Rank #4
- Artist: Rubens, Peter Paul
- Title: The Feast of Herod. Salome Bringing the Head of St John the Baptist on a Charger
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