Mill of Delusions: Salome is Innocent
Author Igor Bukker
08.04.2011 15:00
Unknown » Man
King Herod's daughter Salome was involved in the murder of John the Baptist. A person who claims this is most likely associated with cultural figures rather than clergy. A common plot, replicated many times in art, when a beauty demands the head of John the Baptist for her dance, turned her into a femme fatale.
Photo: AP
The plot of the participation of Salome or Salome in the death of John the Baptist is a common theme in Western European art for several centuries. Titian and Picasso, Heine and Wilde, painters and sculptors, poets and playwrights immortalized the image of this femme fatale. In the Orthodox iconographic tradition, the plot is known as “The Beheading of St. John the Baptist.”
Let us recall this famous story. Salome danced in front of Herod during his birthday celebration. Herod liked the young girl’s dance so much that he promised her everything she wanted, up to half of his kingdom! At the instigation of her mother Herodias, Salome asked Herod for the head of John the Baptist. Herod ordered John the Baptist to be beheaded and his head to be brought on a platter.
Salome in paintings by artists of the 19th and 20th centuries
Representatives of the gallant rocaille XVIII century, turning to the images of gentle shepherdesses and court ladies, forgot about the destructive dance of Salome. Only in the second half of the 19th century did it attract the interest of symbolists, especially Gustave Moreau. He created a whole series of paintings in which the daughter of Herodias is depicted in various settings and at different moments in her history. The heroine of these works is endowed with divine beauty, but lacks human compassion. It looks especially impressive against the backdrop of the luxurious and mysterious interiors of the eastern palace.
In addition to Moreau, Salome was painted by his contemporaries Gustave Doré, Pierre Cécile Puvis de Chavannes and Aubrey Beardsley, the author of illustrations for Oscar Wilde's drama. At the beginning of the 20th century, the most striking image of Salome was created by Franz von Stuck. He depicted a demonically beautiful half-naked femme fatale against the background of the night sky.
If you collect works of art and want to add to your collection, purchase valuable paintings on the Very Important Lot website! Thematic auctions are regularly held here and you can buy paintings by Russian and foreign masters of past eras. The catalogs also feature works by contemporary artists.
Literature
- Olga Matic.
Related characters Elijah (prophet) • Zechariah (priest) • Righteous Elizabeth • Salome • Herodias • Herod Antipas Geographical locations Jordan • Ein Karem • Macheron Other Mandaeans • Ivan Kupala • Deisis • “The Appearance of Christ to the People”
Excerpt characterizing Salome
“It was a terrible sight, children were abandoned, some were on fire... In front of me they pulled out a child... women, from whom they pulled things off, tore out earrings... Pierre blushed and hesitated. “Then a patrol arrived, and all those who were not robbed, all the men were taken away. And me. – You probably don’t tell everything; “You must have done something…” Natasha said and paused, “good.” Pierre continued to talk further. When he talked about the execution, he wanted to avoid the terrible details; but Natasha demanded that he not miss anything. Pierre started to talk about Karataev (he had already gotten up from the table and was walking around, Natasha was watching him with her eyes) and stopped. - No, you cannot understand what I learned from this illiterate man - a fool. “No, no, speak up,” said Natasha. - Where is he? “He was killed almost in front of me.” - And Pierre began to tell the last time of their retreat, Karataev’s illness (his voice trembled incessantly) and his death. Pierre told his adventures as he had never told them to anyone before, as he had never recalled them to himself. He now saw, as it were, a new meaning in everything that he had experienced. Now, when he was telling all this to Natasha, he was experiencing that rare pleasure that women give when listening to a man - not smart women who, while listening, try to either remember what they are told in order to enrich their minds and, on occasion, retell it or adapt what is being told to your own and quickly communicate your clever speeches, developed in your small mental economy; but the pleasure that real women give, gifted with the ability to select and absorb into themselves all the best that exists in the manifestations of a man. Natasha, without knowing it herself, was all attention: she did not miss a word, a hesitation in her voice, a glance, a twitch of a facial muscle, or a gesture from Pierre. She caught the unspoken word on the fly and brought it directly into her open heart, guessing the secret meaning of all Pierre’s spiritual work. Princess Marya understood the story, sympathized with it, but now she saw something else that absorbed all her attention; she saw the possibility of love and happiness between Natasha and Pierre. And for the first time this thought came to her, filling her soul with joy. It was three o'clock in the morning. Waiters with sad and stern faces came to change the candles, but no one noticed them. Pierre finished his story. Natasha, with sparkling, animated eyes, continued to look stubbornly and attentively at Pierre, as if wanting to understand something else that he might not have expressed. Pierre, in bashful and happy embarrassment, occasionally glanced at her and thought of what to say now in order to shift the conversation to another subject. Princess Marya was silent. It didn’t occur to anyone that it was three o’clock in the morning and that it was time to sleep. “They say: misfortune, suffering,” said Pierre. - Yes, if they told me now, this very minute: do you want to remain what you were before captivity, or go through all this first? For God's sake, once again captivity and horse meat. We think how we will be thrown out of our usual path, that everything is lost; and here something new and good is just beginning. As long as there is life, there is happiness. There is a lot, a lot ahead. “I’m telling you this,” he said, turning to Natasha. “Yes, yes,” she said, answering something completely different, “and I would like nothing more than to go through everything all over again.” Pierre looked at her carefully. “Yes, and nothing more,” Natasha confirmed. “It’s not true, it’s not true,” Pierre shouted. – It’s not my fault that I’m alive and want to live; and you too. Suddenly Natasha dropped her head into her hands and began to cry. - What are you doing, Natasha? - said Princess Marya. - Nothing, nothing. “She smiled through her tears at Pierre. - Goodbye, time to sleep. Pierre stood up and said goodbye. Princess Marya and Natasha, as always, met in the bedroom. They talked about what Pierre had told. Princess Marya did not speak her opinion about Pierre. Natasha didn't talk about him either. “Well, goodbye, Marie,” Natasha said. – You know, I’m often afraid that we don’t talk about him (Prince Andrei), as if we are afraid to humiliate our feelings and forget. Princess Marya sighed heavily and with this sigh acknowledged the truth of Natasha’s words; but in words she did not agree with her. - Is it possible to forget? - she said. “It felt so good to tell everything today; and hard, and painful, and good. “Very good,” said Natasha, “I’m sure he really loved him.” That's why I told him... nothing, what did I tell him? – suddenly blushing, she asked. - Pierre? Oh no! How wonderful he is,” said Princess Marya. “You know, Marie,” Natasha suddenly said with a playful smile that Princess Marya had not seen on her face for a long time. - He became somehow clean, smooth, fresh; definitely from the bathhouse, do you understand? - morally from the bathhouse. Is it true? “Yes,” said Princess Marya, “he won a lot.” - And a short frock coat, and cropped hair; definitely, well, definitely from the bathhouse... dad, it used to be... “I understand that he (Prince Andrei) did not love anyone as much as he did,” said Princess Marya. – Yes, and it’s special from him. They say that men are friends only when they are very special. It must be true. Is it true that he doesn't resemble him at all? - Yes, and wonderful. “Well, goodbye,” Natasha answered. And the same playful smile, as if forgotten, remained on her face for a long time. Pierre could not fall asleep for a long time that day; He walked back and forth around the room, now frowning, pondering something difficult, suddenly shrugging his shoulders and shuddering, now smiling happily. He thought about Prince Andrei, about Natasha, about their love, and was either jealous of her past, then reproached her, then forgave himself for it. It was already six o'clock in the morning, and he was still walking around the room. “Well, what can we do? If you can’t do without it! What to do! So, this is how it should be,” he said to himself and, hastily undressed, went to bed, happy and excited, but without doubts and indecisions. “We must, strange as it may be, no matter how impossible this happiness is, we must do everything in order to be husband and wife with her,” he said to himself. Pierre, a few days before, had set Friday as the day of his departure for St. Petersburg. When he woke up on Thursday, Savelich came to him for orders about packing his things for the road. “How about St. Petersburg? What is St. Petersburg? Who's in St. Petersburg? – he asked involuntarily, although to himself. “Yes, something like that a long time ago, long ago, even before this happened, I was planning to go to St. Petersburg for some reason,” he remembered. - From what? I'll go, maybe. How kind and attentive he is, how he remembers everything! - he thought, looking at Savelich’s old face. “And what a pleasant smile!” - he thought. - Well, don’t you want to go free, Savelich? asked Pierre. - Why do I need freedom, Your Excellency? We lived under the late count, the kingdom of heaven, and we see no resentment under you. - Well, what about the children? “And the children will live, your Excellency: you can live with such gentlemen.” - Well, what about my heirs? - said Pierre. “What if I get married... It could happen,” he added with an involuntary smile. “And I dare to report: a good deed, your Excellency.” “How easy he thinks it is,” thought Pierre. “He doesn’t know how scary it is, how dangerous it is.” Too early or too late... Scary! - How would you like to order? Would you like to go tomorrow? – Savelich asked. - No; I'll put it off a little. I'll tell you then. “Excuse me for the trouble,” said Pierre and, looking at Savelich’s smile, he thought: “How strange, however, that he does not know that now there is no Petersburg and that first of all it is necessary for this to be decided. However, he probably knows, but he’s only pretending. Talk to him? What does he think? - thought Pierre. “No, someday later.” At breakfast, Pierre told the princess that he had been to Princess Marya yesterday and found there - can you imagine who? - Natalie Rostov. The princess pretended that she did not see anything more extraordinary in this news than in the fact that Pierre had seen Anna Semyonovna. - Do you know her? asked Pierre. “I saw the princess,” she answered. “I heard that they were marrying her to young Rostov.” This would be very good for the Rostovs; They say they are completely ruined. - No, do you know Rostov? “I only heard about this story then.” Very sorry. “No, she doesn’t understand or is pretending,” thought Pierre. “It’s better not to tell her either.” The princess also prepared provisions for Pierre's journey. “How kind they all are,” thought Pierre, “that now, when they probably couldn’t be more interested in this, they are doing all this. And everything for me; That’s what’s amazing.” On the same day, the police chief came to Pierre with a proposal to send a trustee to the Faceted Chamber to receive the things that were now being distributed to the owners. “This one too,” thought Pierre, looking into the police chief’s face, “what a nice, handsome officer and how kind!” Now he deals with such trifles. They also say that he is not honest and takes advantage of him. What nonsense! But why shouldn’t he use it? That's how he was raised. And everyone does it. And such a pleasant, kind face, and smiles, looking at me.” Pierre went to dinner with Princess Marya. Driving through the streets between the burned-out houses, he was amazed at the beauty of these ruins. The chimneys of houses and fallen walls, picturesquely reminiscent of the Rhine and the Colosseum, stretched, hiding each other, along the burnt blocks. The cab drivers and riders we met, the carpenters who cut the log houses, the traders and shopkeepers, all with cheerful, beaming faces, looked at Pierre and said as if: “Ah, here he is! Let's see what comes out of this."
