[Man Serving Head on a Platter]
ca. 1900
![[Man Serving Head on a Platter] by William Robert Bowles](https://images.artheonmuseum.org/met/ph/thumb/man-serving-head-on-a-platter-294845.webp)
Medium
Gelatin silver print
Dimensions
Image: 9.8 x 13.9 cm (3 7/8 x 5 1/2 in.) Mount: 14.6 x 17.5 cm (5 3/4 x 6 7/8 in.) Frame: 27.9 x 35.6 cm (11 x 14 in.)
Classification
Photographs
Department
Photographs
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Twentieth-Century Photography Fund, 2011
Accession Number
2011.366
Tags
Art Historical Context
William Robert Bowles' *Man Serving Head on a Platter* (ca. 1900) is a striking gelatin silver print that captures a surreal, theatrical moment. Measuring just 9.8 x 13.9 cm on its, this intimate photograph belongs to the Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection of early 20th-century photography acquired through the Twentieth-Century Photography Fund 2011. The title evokes biblical echoes of Salome presenting John the Baptist's head, yet here a man takes center stage, blending portraiture with dark, dramatic staging. Created at the dawn of modern photography, the work exemplifies the gelatin s...