Shop art print and framed art Etude pour Salomé dansant devant Hérode by Gustave Moreau

Salome or Salome Dancing before Herod is an oil painting produced in 1876 by the French Symbolist artist Gustave Moreau. The subject is taken from the New Testament, depicting Salome - the daughter of Herod II and Herodias - dancing before Herod Antipas. It took Moreau seven years to paint this picture. It caused a sensation when it was first exhibited in Paris at the Salon of 1876 and is undoubtedly one of Moreau's most important works. The painting is now kept at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, USA, where an exhibition devoted to it (A Strange Magic: Gustave Moreau's Salome) was held in 2012. The painting depicts a magnificent, extraordinarily ornate palace, with Salome standing on tiptoe and performing a dance for Herod. She wears a sumptuously jewelled costume, holding a lotus flower in her right hand and extending her other hand in a rigid gesture. She appears frozen, or at most moving in a dead march. In the middle, King Herod faces forward and sits on the throne, with an executioner standing on the right, a musician and Herodias on the left. The most surprising aspect of this work is the fusion of different cultural elements. These have been associated with the Basilica of Saint Sophia in Istanbul, the Alhambra in Granada, the Cathedral Mosque in Cordoba and several medieval cathedrals. Motifs have been identified in Etruscan, Roman, Egyptian, Indian and Chinese art and culture. Salome was the daughter of Herod II and Herodias. According to Mark's Gospel, King Herod [...]

 

This artwork is a drawing from the modern period. It belongs to the symbolism style.

 

« Etude pour Salomé dansant devant Hérode » is kept at Musée Gustave Moreau, Paris, France.

 

Find the full description of Etude pour Salomé dansant devant Hérode by Gustave Moreau on Wikipedia.