Mary Salome and Zebedee right hand; he is expressively depicted as an elderly man with sunken cheeks, his gaze is fixed on the observer. He is dressed in a buttoned robe. Mary Salome and Zebedee Mary Salome and Zebedee by Tilman Riemenschneider (c.1460–1531) originally formed the right wing of an altarpiece showing the family of the Virgin Mary. The central scene would have shown St Anne seated with her daughter Mary and the Christ Child. Mary Salome was another daughter of St Anne, half sister of the Virgin and wife of Zebedee. Riemenschnieder was one of the most important sculptors in southern Germany in
Salome (Titian) to get John the Baptist executed, the younger woman next to her would be intended to represent her daughter Salome, here shown as a figure in thrall to her more glamourous mother. The identification as Herodias seems to have no recent supporters, but that as Judith does. A medieval addition to the Salome legend held that, as well as her mother's hatred of John for his preaching against her, Salome was also motivated by a frustrated love for John, to which the cupid might refer. Her face is turned away from his head, but her eyes look back to it.