Salome at the Prison

Gustave Moreau

1826 - 1898

Salome at the Prison

c. 1873-76
Oil on canvas 40 x 32 cm
Signed lower right: Gustave Moreau. Title and signature on the back of the canvas: Salome-Gustave Moreau-
Matsukata Collection
P.1959-196

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The Jewish princess Salome, goaded by her mother, asked for the head of John the Baptist. Salome had long been a favorite subject in European art, and Moreau painted her repeatedly. He transformed her into the femme fatale, who leads men to their destruction, and who was a popular character at the end of the 19th century. Here, Salome, holding flowers, waits for the decapitation of John the Baptist, which is about to be carried out in the background on the far left-hand side of the painting.

(Source: The Digital Gallery. 1999-2006)