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The Apparition
Gustave Moreau · Symbolism & Art Nouveau
- Artist
- Gustave Moreau (1826–1898)
- Date
- c. 1876
- Dimensions
- 56 x 46.5 cm
- Medium
- Watercolour on paper
- Location
- Fogg Museum, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, United States
The Apparition shows Salome, who has just danced before King Herod, frozen in a theatrical gesture as the bleeding, haloed head of John the Baptist appears floating in the air before her, radiating light.
A closer look
In a vast, shadowy palace inspired by Moorish and Indian architecture, Salome, adorned with jewels and almost naked, points at the vision. Herod and Herodias sit in the background, apparently seeing nothing; only Salome perceives the head, which stares at her accusingly. The walls are covered in a delicate web of fine lines and ornaments. The image of the seductive, fatal woman and the mystical, jewel-like atmosphere made it one of the founding works of Symbolism; it caused a sensation at the Salon of 1876.
More by Gustave Moreau
Famous works elsewhere
- Oedipus and the Sphinx 1864
- Orphés 1865
- Hercules and the Lernaean Hydra 1876
- Jupiter and Semele 1895
- Salome 1874
- The Apparition 1876