Hereby he creates great contrasts and simultaneously sole focuses on define lines and filled areas. Concerning the use of colour, it is remarkable that Beardsley works with black and white only. In the foreground of the bottom left corner a grotesque figure is playing an instrument. Salome is predominating the picture’s right side. We might go further and interpret it as the moon, for it is one of the outstanding leitmotivs in the play. Salome is standing on a black ground, which is divided horizontally from the plane white background. King Herod has previously promised the princess to grand her any wish if she would dance for him. “The Stomach Dance” (1894) is one of Beardsley’s illustrations to the play and shows Salome’s dance. Subsequently, two earlier paintings of the same subject, by Benozzo Gozzoli and Gustave Moreau, will be introduced and compared to Beardsley’s representation. Firstly, there will be an examination of Beardsley’s illustration “The Stomach Dance” (1894). The following essay will be about one of the most significant scenes in Salomé: the dance of the seven veils. As “one of the most successful collaborations of poet and illustrator” (Tydeman 115) Wilde’s symbolist play Salomé (1894) would certainly not be the same without Aubrey Beardsley’s illustrations on the English version. In his letter Oscar Wilde confirms an aspect that is highly praised by critics. “For Aubrey: for the only artist who, besides myself, knows what the dance of the seven veils is and can see the invisible dance.

Oscar wildes salome