“The Eyes of Herod” is one of 16 full plate illustrations in the 1894 English edition of Oscar Wilde’s Salome, illustrated by Aubrey Beardsley. Beardsley’s illustrations were photomechanically printed onto Japanese vellum via half-tone printing that was popular at the end of the century. The illustration features Beardsley’s emblematic signature, located on the left of the image between underneath the leaves of the trees. “The Eyes of Herod” is notable as it condenses several characteristics of the Salome illustrations as a whole as well as exemplifies Beardsley’s Decadent art style in one image.
The illustration occurs next to page 32 of the play, wherein Herod is trying to convince Salome to dance for him. The illustration, however, does not mirror the accompanying text, but rather anticipates tensions between Salome and Herod that are yet to occur. Salome (pictured left) looks down upon Herod (bearded figure to the right), meeting his gaze in disdain, or perhaps a challenge. This tension reflects Salome’s challenge to Herod of executing the prophet Jokanaan in exchange for the dance she performs for him. The peacock and the garden wall pictured in the bottom left quarter of the image are also a reference to this moment, as Herod offers Salome the rare white peacocks in his garden as a prize instead of Jokanaan’s head. In the end, Salome’s desire triumphs, and the prophet is executed—this, too, is anticipated by Salome’s higher spatial positioning and the greater detail given to her form relative to Herod.
Beardsley’s illustration is a provocative one. From Salome’s exposed breast, to the naked, child-like characters carrying a phallic candlestick, the nudity and eroticism of the illustration is glaring. Indeed, across all of Beardsley’s Salome illustrations, nudity is almost always a central feature. Perversion and excess sexuality were core themes of Decadent art, as depictions of such themes were considered vulgar, even immoral by the dominant Victorian culture. The peacock near the centre of the image is another common Decadent symbol, as the peacock’s ornate plumage was believed to be an unnatural example of natural phenomena.
Sources:
Armour, Margaret. "Aubrey Beardsley and the Decandents." The Victorian Web, Nov 7, 2004, http://www.victorianweb.org/art/illustration/beardsley/armour1897.html.
Met Museum. "A Portfolio of Aubrey Beardsley's Drawings Illustrating Salomé by Oscar Wilde," The Metropolitan Museum of Art, https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/345737.
Primorac, Yelena. "Illustrating Wilde: An examination of Aubrey Beardsley's interpretation of Salome." The Victorian Web, Apr 27, 2009, http://www.victorianweb.org/art/illustration/beardsley/primorac.html