Judith II Gustav Klimt (1862-1918)

Description of Gustav Klimt’s "Salome" (1909)

The artist, who created the canvas with the image of Judith, eight years later embodied another archetype of the fatal beauty not in the image of a biblical character, but in the guise of his contemporary, an inhabitant of the Austrian capital, as indicated by her fashionable attire and jewelry. This ambitious and independent woman, simultaneously mysterious, enchanting and fatal, places herself on a higher level than the men who admire her.

Klimt peculiarly interprets the Old Testament story of the righteous widow Judith, who dared to make a heroic act to save her hometown from the Assyrians. This is why the painting has acquired another title - Salome, received in honor of the not unknown New Testament temptress.

The pictorial concept of the painting is akin to arts and crafts. Sensations from reality served only as an incitement to create a painting that has nothing to do with its essence. Images and realities have undergone stylization in the spirit of modernism. As usual, the painter used flat ornament with small pattern as a background. This background was counterbalanced by ephemeral, spatially interpreted elements of representation - the face, shoulders and chest of the model, distinguished by a peculiar ochre-pink coloring, accentuated by the shadows which added volume, and the feverish blush of her cheeks. The eyes under her gracefully drawn eyebrows are half-closed, and the brick color of her lipstick adds to the fatal impression of the woman.

The unusual appearance of the heroine is emphasized by the artist through a variety of details. Her black hat with wide brim, from under which her dark brown hair is elegantly styled in a refined hairstyle, attracts the viewer’s attention. The heroine wears an expensive necklace decorated with poppies around her neck. Her hands with an abundance of bracelets are clutched convulsively at her hip.

The outline of the heroine’s figure is limited by a generic image, with the lower part concealed by a long garment with a bright black and white geometric pattern. The figure itself is executed in a half-turn position, her silhouette is elongated, this gives expressiveness to the dramatic pose, which is characterized by tension, heightened pathetics, nervousness, sensuality and aggressiveness. This was a personal perception of life by the master.