Affortunato Gory (active Between 1895 And 1925) - Salome, Ca. 1910

Marble sculpture: 95 cm (height).
Signed at the base.

Affortunato Gory was an artist of Italian origin who came to Paris to continue his training and exhibited at the Salon until the beginning of the First World War. He is known for his various sculptures, primarily depicting women. His renown also stems from the different compositions he created with marble, gilded and patinated bronze, and ivory, and especially for his chryselephantine sculptures.
Here, the artist represents Salome, a Jewish princess from the beginning of the first millennium, who demanded the head of Saint John the Baptist from her stepfather, Herod Antipas. The story has been taken up by several painters, such as Pierre Bonnaud with his famous Salome painted around 1900, but also by writers like Victor Hugo and Oscar Wilde. Here, Affortunato Gory draws inspiration from the famous dancer Maud Allan (fig. 6), who played the lead role of Salome at the Paris Opera.