Salomé

:For other uses of Salomé and Salome, see Salome.

Salomé in the arts

Painting

This Biblical story has long been a favourite of painters, since it offers a chance to depict oriental splendour, semi-nude women, and exotic scenery under the guise of a Biblical subject. Painters who have done notable representations of Salomé include Titian and Gustave Moreau.

Related Topics:
Painters - Oriental - Nude - Titian - Gustave Moreau

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Oscar Wilde's Salomé

Main article: Salomé (play)

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This story was made the subject of a play by Oscar Wilde that premiered in Paris in 1896. In Wilde's play, Salomé takes a perverse fancy for John the Baptist, and causes him to be executed when John spurns her affections. In the finale, Salomé takes up John's severed head and kisses it. Because British law forbade the depiction of Bible characters on stage, Wilde wrote the play originally in French, and then produced an English translation. Wilde, unfortunately, struggled with his French, and the play was proofread and corrected by Marcel Schwob.

Related Topics:
Play - Oscar Wilde - Paris - 1896 - John the Baptist - British - French - English - Marcel Schwob

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Opera

Main article: Salome (opera)

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The Wilde play (in German translation) was turned into an opera by Richard Strauss, part of the standard operatic repertoire and is now better known than the Wilde play itself. The opera Salome, which premiered in Dresden in 1905, is famous for the Dance of the seven veils.

Related Topics:
Opera - Richard Strauss - Standard operatic repertoire - Salome - Dresden - 1905 - Dance of the seven veils

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Rock Music

U2 offered a song about Salomé from the perspective of Herod as a B-side on their 1992 single Even Better Than The Real Thing which accompanied their 1991 album Achtung Baby. As befits the motif, the song is eminently danceable. A remix was released on the fan-club only album Melon_%28album%29 which was re-edited for the B-Sides disc of The_Best_of_1990-2000 album.

Related Topics:
U2 - Achtung Baby - Melon_%28album%29 - The_Best_of_1990-2000

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Death metal band Cryptopsy features Salome' holding the head of the prophet on the cover of their 1996 classic None So Vile.

Related Topics:
Cryptopsy - None So Vile

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Films

Wilde's Salomé has at least twice been made into a film: a 1923 silent film starring Alla Nazimova in the title role (see Salomé (1923 film)) and a 1998 Ken Russell play-within-a-film treatment, Salomé's Last Dance, which also includes Wilde and Lord Alfred Douglas as characters.

Related Topics:
Alla Nazimova - Salomé (1923 film) - Ken Russell - Salomé's Last Dance - Lord Alfred Douglas

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IMDB lists at least 25 Salomé films, and numerous resettings of the Salomé story to modern times. Among the former are a 1953 film starring Rita Hayworth and a 2002 film by Carlos Saura using flamenco dance.

Related Topics:
IMDB - 1953 - Rita Hayworth - 2002 - Carlos Saura - Flamenco

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