Salome appears as a majestic Oriental dancer. Her figure is arranged in a complex, almost theatrical gesture: one arm is extended to the side, the other drawn back, while her head is held proudly high. The richly decorated headdress, bracelets, belt and layered garments reinforce the exotic character of the image. The treatment of the drapery is especially expressive – fine folds seem to continue the movement of the body and lend the heavy bronze a sense of fluidity. Silvering and gilding pick out individual details of the costume and jewellery. The image of Salome, combining a biblical subject with European ideas of a mysterious and sensual East, was extremely popular in art around 1900. In Édouard Drouot’s interpretation, the heroine becomes above all a striking theatrical figure intended to be viewed in the round.

minimize...