THE MYSTERIES OF HERODIAS. INVESTIGATION AT THE FABRE MUSEUM

From December 18, 2026, to April 18, 2027

Who is hiding behind the "master of the Herodias of Montpellier"? This is the question that the Fabre Museum will pose to its visitors through the exhibition The Mysteries of Herodias, Investigation at the Fabre Museum, which will open in December 2026, in partnership with the Fine Arts Museum of Rennes.

Quietly entering the collections of the Fabre Museum in 1854 and long ignored, the painting Herodias holding the head of Saint John the Baptist constitutes a puzzling enigma. Blending various sensitive influences in early 17th century Rome, it was attributed to numerous artists before being associated with the circle of Vouet. In the mid-20th century, a new hypothesis emerged: what if it were a painting by Claude Mellan, the famous engraver of Vouet's works, of which no painting is known? Tested through several exhibitions, this theory was gradually abandoned, and the painting is today attributed, for lack of better, to the "master of the Herodias of Montpellier." The anonymity of its author seemed to condemn the work to a form of invisibility, preventing it from finding its place in the history of art.

This winter, the Fabre Museum wishes to reopen this cold case of the Herodias to attempt to unravel the mystery of its attribution. Located within the permanent collection route of the museum, the exhibition brings together around twenty paintings and engravings dating from around 1626-1627, while mobilizing scientific research tools to revisit the circle of Simon Vouet and identify the hand of the master of the Herodias. This exploration will allow the public to understand the mechanism of attribution: how does an attribution hypothesis emerge? How is it defended, despite the rarity of sources and works? What does an attribution "do" to a work? And how does the work itself offer or resist these interpretations?

In the manner of an investigation, the exhibition's path invites everyone to follow the trace of the Herodias, confronting it with works of comparable format and subjects, by Claude Vignon, Aubin Vouet, Claude Mellan, Charles Mellin, and Virginia Vezzi.

An artistic upheaval and the advent of "Parisian Baroque"
Four centuries ago, painter Simon Vouet returned to Paris at the order of King Louis XIII after fifteen years spent in Rome. From his stay, Vouet brought back his Caravaggesque culture, the influence of Bolognese painting, and a network of talented artists. Appointed the King’s first painter, he developed the aesthetic of "Parisian Baroque." By definitively ending the mannerism inherited from the Renaissance, he ushered French painting into the modern era. Among these changes, the Fabre Museum preserves an emblematic work: a mysterious Herodias holding the head of Saint John the Baptist.

Simon Vouet, celebrated in Rennes, Montpellier, Paris, and San Francisco
This exhibition is designed in partnership with the Fine Arts Museum of Rennes, which will simultaneously present the exhibition Simon Vouet, Atelier Secrets from November 20, 2026, to March 21, 2027. This true "Vouet season" will find its fulfillment in 2027-2028 with a retrospective of Simon Vouet presented successively at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco and then at the Petit Palais, Museum of Fine Arts of the City of Paris.

The exhibition The Mysteries of Herodias, Investigation at the Fabre Museum is part of the Vouet Season 2026-2028 supported by the FRAME network (FRench American Museum Exchange), which promotes scientific partnerships and transatlantic loan exchanges.

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