Salomé
Odilon REDON
(French, 1840-1916)
Salomé
Date1910
Mediumoil on canvas
Dimensionsoverall: 28 1/4 x 23 in. (71.8 x 58.4 cm)
frame: 38 1/4 x 33 in. (97.2 x 83.8 cm)
ClassificationPAINTINGS
Credit LineSBMA, Bequest of Wright S. Ludington
Object number1993.1.6
Collection
- 20th century French
On View
Not on viewCollections
Label Text
This enigmatic painting barely registers the gruesome spectacle of St. John the Baptist, whose head Salomé calmly balances on a platter. Redon’s interpretation seems to follow that of Oscar Wilde, whose scandalous version of the biblical story amplified Salomé’s motives as the result of her thwarted erotic desire for the prophet. The opulent purple scarf refers to the "Dance of the Seven Veils," another literary embellishment that was further cemented in Richard Strauss’s 1910 opera, and the seductive means by which she compelled her father-in-law-to-be to behead the evangelist.