Enter Herodias is an artwork by the English illustrator Aubrey Beardsley, created in 1893 and published in 1907. It was named after a stage direction in Oscar Wilde’s play Salome, which Beardsley illustrated for the English translation. The artwork depicts four figures, including the statuesque queen Herodias, who is shown with intricate details in her flowing draped dress and regal gown.
Beardsley’s career was brief but impactful, with over a thousand illustrations and designs created in just five years. Enter Herodias is considered one of his most notable works due to its striking style that reflects his influence on the Art Nouveau movement. However, some of the illustrations he made for Salome were deemed too erotic to publish and had to be altered or omitted from the first British edition of the play.
There are multiple copies of Enter Herodias available today, including one at the Victoria & Albert Museum. This artwork showcases Beardsley’s exceptional attention to detail and use of ornamentation to make each line crucially important. He achieved a sense of perfection through his dexterous skills as an artist combined with his signature fictionalized grotesques. Beardsley’s Enter Herodias remains a significant piece in art history that collectors and enthusiasts alike continue to admire centuries after it was first created.