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H Beard Print Collection

Fortunino Matania

From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum

Classical Antiquity Allegory

Dominant colour

H Beard Print Collection is a 17 by Fortunino Matania, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.

Who painted this?: Fortunino Matania
When & what style?: 17
Where can I see it?: Victoria and Albert Museum

About this work

This print shows Salome in a tricky spot. The artist reused a scene from Strauss’s opera where she’s left talking to a head that isn’t there. The print was made in 1910, the same year Covent Garden cut that head from the show. It’s a sharp glance at censorship in the opera world. The press called it out in The Sphere that same week. If you want to see more of Matania’s prints, visit the Victoria and Albert Museum.