The Apparition
1876 · Watercolour on paper · Musée d'Orsay, Paris
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About this work
- Artist
- Gustave Moreau (1826–1898)
- Year
- 1876
- Medium
- Watercolour on paper
- Original size
- 106 × 72.2 cm
- Collection
- Musée d'Orsay, Paris (Cabinet des arts graphiques, Louvre)
- Movement
- Symbolism
Salome stands in a jewelled costume in the half-light of an ornate palace hall, one arm raised towards the severed head of John the Baptist, which hangs in the air inside a blazing halo, dripping blood. Herod and Herodias sit enthroned behind her, and the executioner waits at right with his sword. The colours are old gold, brown and ivory. Moreau showed this large watercolour at the Salon of 1876, where it caused a sensation, and sold it that May to the dealer Léon Gauchez for 8,000 francs. It belongs to the Musée d'Orsay and is kept in the Louvre's department of graphic arts.
This full-bleed edition prints the work edge to edge from a high-resolution scan of the original, very slightly cropped (a few percent at most) to fit the sheet. The gallery edition shows the whole work, uncropped. The original is in the public domain.
Where it works
Old gold, ivory and one blazing halo on a shadowy palace ground suit a library, study or dining room with deep-coloured walls. It sits well near Klimt's Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I, hung at 24×36 in a black frame.
Style, size & framing detail
- Style
- Symbolism painting
- Era
- 19th century (1876)
- Orientation
- Portrait
- Mood
- grand
- Rooms
- dining room, study or library, living room
- Good gift for
- housewarming, art lovers
Size. We'd hang this one at 24×36. Prints at 12×18, 16×24, 24×36 in — 12×18 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 16×24 above a desk, console or in a hallway; 24×36 as the statement piece above a sofa or bed.
Framing. Printed edge to edge: a slim black or dark wood frame right to the image, or let the canvas wrap do the framing. Also available gallery-wrapped on canvas, ready to hang with no frame.
Pairing. Pairs as a set of three with other famous painting prints (10% off three or more).
Details & materials
Shipping & returns
Is this the whole painting, or a crop?
Is The Apparition in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was The Apparition painted, and in what medium?
What size works above a sofa or bed?
About this design
The Madten promise
An exhibition poster
The same artwork as a gallery exhibition poster — title, artist & date typeset beneath the image on a soft ground.
A fine-art print
The same artwork as a clean fine-art print — the image shown large with a minimal caption.































