Biblical Women
Artists also depicted femmes fatales extracted from biblical texts; in nineteenth-century works, women like Judith and Salomé were reinterpreted to dominate and command the scenes around them. Both Judith and Salomé developed an unmistakably threatening sexuality and physicality alongside a dynamic confidence.
Though an image of Judith in fine art had been developed for centuries , her identity shifted away from the symbol of piety and delicate self-sacrifice artists like Caravaggio had painted from the Renaissance onward. While previous depictions of Judith nearly always included multiple figures and usually depicted her in the act of beheading Holofernes or the act of receiving his head from her maid, fin de siècle Judith was usually depicted alone with Holofernes represented only by a head or a de-emphasized figure.
Judith became an increasingly sexualized character who dominated the canvas, asserting her individual power and confronting audiences.
JUDITH
August Riedel | 1840 Riedel's Judith is a forerunner to many Judith works in later decades. She is a solitary figure powerfully and securely stabilized in a pyramidal composition. Judith's sword, firmly grasped and foregrounded in her left hand, along with the barely-visible head of Holofernes at back left emphasize her independent power and control. Riedel has only subtly alluded to Judith's femme fatale beauty and sexuality by exposing one shoulder and highlighting her curved facial features.
Gustav Klimt | 1901 Klimt amplifies the themes of confrontation and sexuality visible in Riedel's Judith. Here, Judith faces the viewer in a fully frontal arrangement, regarding us directly with a slight smirk and her chin held high. Klimt emphasizes Judith's sexuality by exposing more of Judith's skin and painting her with lips slightly parted. Judith's firm grasp of Holofernes' head and hair reasserts control and power alongside this allure.
Koloman Moser | 1916 Moser's vivid rendition of Judith's tale is one of dynamic energy and fiery, deadly passion. The limited color scheme and thick outlines emphasize the scene's drama and tension: a naked Judith pauses in a commanding pose, sword-in-hand, as she approaches Holofernes. Judith's splayed limbs and sharp angles immediately catch the audience's attention. Her utter absorption in her own action and disregard for the world around her emphasize her dangerous capability.
August Riedel | 1840 Riedel's Judith is a forerunner to many Judith works in later decades. She is a solitary figure powerfully and securely stabilized in a pyramidal composition. Judith's sword, firmly grasped and foregrounded in her left hand, along with the barely-visible head of Holofernes at back left emphasize her independent power and control. Riedel has only subtly alluded to Judith's femme fatale beauty and sexuality by exposing one shoulder and highlighting her curved facial features.
In Biblical texts, Salome is mentioned only on the periphery of larger events. However, in the 1870s, Gustave Moreau unleashed "a veritable Salome mania among artists" as one of the first to reinvent the dancer as a main subject.
In fin de siècle art, Salome is depicted as an overtly sexualized figure, almost always with breasts and shoulders exposed, with a cruel temperament and deadly demands.
SALOMÉ
Georges Olivier Desvallieres | 1861 Here, Salomé is an alluring beauty who elegantly glides through space in a diaphanous gown as she holds John's head high with a bemused expression. Desvallieres emphasizes Salome's beauty in her gleaming skin and graceful pose. The scene's dangerous, deadly power is downplayed; murderous desire is not present in Salome herself, but is instead relegated to the executioner at right while Salome is barely tinged with the red streaks of John's blood.
Aubrey Beardsley Beardsley created this illustration to appear within publications of Oscar Wilde's play Salomé. Before its 1894 English publication Beardsley simplified the frenzied image by removing many of the decorative lines as well as the text at left – "J'ai baisé ta bouche, Iokanaan" – or, "I kiss your lips, [Jonathan]." Depictions of Salome in art continued to become more and more overtly sexualized, spurred on by Wilde's lascivious portrayal.
Max Oppenheimer | 1912 Oppenheimer's portrayal of Salome, dated over a decade later, conflates the femme fatale's savage thirst for blood and rampant sexuality into one dangerous, threatening psychology. The painting's murky palette spiked with the crisp red tones of John's blood along with Oppenheimer's marked use of heavy outlining increase Oppenheimer's view of Salome's darkly dramatic, dangerous desires.
Georges Olivier Desvallieres | 1861 Here, Salomé is an alluring beauty who elegantly glides through space in a diaphanous gown as she holds John's head high with a bemused expression. Desvallieres emphasizes Salome's beauty in her gleaming skin and graceful pose. The scene's dangerous, deadly power is downplayed; murderous desire is not present in Salome herself, but is instead relegated to the executioner at right while Salome is barely tinged with the red streaks of John's blood.