 The use of erotic allure on male figures of power is the core of both stories, but to the church and Titian's contemporaries, Herodias and Salome were bad, but Judith a heroine.Both stories were part of the repertoire of the Power of Women topos, mainly a feature of German art in this period, but whose subjects were also depicted in Italy.The small Cupid at the top of the arch reinforces the eroticism of the treatment, suggesting either Salome's lust for John, (or Herod's implied attraction to Salome) or that of Holfernes for Judith, according to choice.