2-880-239 - Shirley Markham Collection/Heritage Images

The Climax, 1893. The floating figure of Salome holds the severed head of John the Baptist (Jokanaan). The head has writhing snake-like hair, and drips blood which forms a pool from which grows a white lily. A cluster of bubble-like objects perhaps reference the 'clusters of black grapes' to which Salome compares John's hair. Illustration for "Salome" by Oscar Wilde, [John Lane, 1894]. From "The Best of Beardsley" edited by R. A. Walker, [The Bodley Head, London, 1948]