This illustration by Aubrey Beardsley, titled “The Dancer’s Reward,” was published in Oscar Wilde’s 1894 edition of Salome. It depicts Salome receiving the head of Jokanaan (John the Baptist) as a reward from her stepfather Herod. This illustration reflects the play’s strong biblical inspirations. The dark and unnaturally long arm of Herod’s negro executioner reaching from the cistern to present the head resembles a fountain of blood. The arm’s offer is emblematic of an offer of death, highlighting Jokanaan’s death but also foreshadowing Salome’s approaching execution. The illustration demonstrates decadent themes of sensual indulgence and the femme fatale.
Beardsley, Arthur. The Dancer's Reward. 1893, Harvard Museum of Art, Boston. In Salome by Oscar Wilde, translated by Lord Alfred Douglas, 1st edition, London Elkin Mathews & John Lane, 1894.