Salomé Dancing before Herod
1888
oil
canvas
From the collection of Hammer Museum
About the artist
Artist
Gustave Moreau
Gustave Moreau was a French artist and an important figure in the Symbolist movement.
See the richer artist page1888
oil
canvas
From the collection of Hammer Museum
Salomé Dancing before Herod is a 1888 oil by Gustave Moreau, a Symbolism work, held at Hammer Museum.
This painting is called Salomé Dancing before Herod. It's an oil painting made by Gustave Moreau. The subject matter comes from the New Testament. It shows Salome, the daughter of Herod II and Herodias, dancing before Herod Antipas. This story has been depicted in many artworks throughout history. To learn more about the style and methods used in this painting, look up the technique of glazing.
Salome Dancing before Herod (French: Salomé dansant devant Hérode) is an oil painting produced in 1876 by the French Symbolist artist Gustave Moreau. The subject matter is taken from the New Testament, depicting Salome—the daughter of Herod II and Herodias—dancing before Herod Antipas. The work took Moreau seven years to paint. It created a sensation when it was exhibited for the first time in Paris at the Salon of 1876 and is arguably Moreau's most important work. The painting is kept today in the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, United States, where an exhibition—A Strange Magic: Gustave…
Source: wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
The work depicts a magnificent and extraordinarily ornate palace, where Salome, standing on the tips of her toes, is performing a dance for Herod. She is wearing a sumptuously bejewelled costume, holding a lotus flower in her right hand, and extending her left arm in a rigid gesture. She appears frozen, or at most moving in a dead march. In the middle, King Herod is depicted sitting on the throne and facing the forwards, with an executioner standing on the right and a musician and Herodias on the left. The most astounding element of this work is the fusion of different cultural elements.…
Source: wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Salome was the daughter of Herod II and Herodias. According to the Gospel of Mark, King Herod hosted a feast on his birthday for his nobles, the high officers and the chief men of Galilee. The daughter of Herodias came in and danced, pleasing Herod and those who sat with him. The king said to the girl: "Ask me whatever you want, and I will give it to you." So she went out and said to her mother: "What shall I ask?" She said: "The head of John the Baptist!" Immediately she came in with haste to the king and asked: "I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter." The…
Read the full account in the museum source.
Source: wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Gustave Moreau was a French artist and an important figure in the Symbolist movement.
See the richer artist page
