Big Sky Fine Art has dated this French Orientalist Watercolour Painting to the 1860s.
French ( b.1826 - d.1900 ).
Salome.
Watercolour On Paper.
Signed Lower Right.
Image size 16.7 inches x 12.2 inches ( 42.5cm x 31cm ).
Frame size 21.3 inches x 16.7 inches ( 54cm x 42.5cm ).
The painting is presented and supplied in a sympathetic contemporary frame (which is shown in these photographs), mounted using conservation materials and behind non-reflective ArtGlass AR 70® glass.
This antique watercolour is in very good condition, commensurate with its age. It wants for nothing and is supplied ready to hang and display.
The watercolour is signed lower right.
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Charles Alphonse Paul Bellay was a capable and refined academic painter whose work exemplifies the values of 19th-century French Salon art. His paintings—especially those depicting biblical heroines like Salome—combine technical assurance, elegant figure painting, and moral narrative, making them appealing both historically and aesthetically.
Bellay is best known for his Orientalist, mythological, and historical subjects, and this work reflects his interest in idealised female figures drawn from classical and biblical sources. The painting is a fine example of 19th-century French academic watercolour, combining technical finesse with a powerful narrative theme.
© Big Sky Fine Art
This striking original watercolour by Charles Bellay depicts Salome, the biblical figure associated with the Dance of the Seven Veils and the execution of John the Baptist.
Rendered with remarkable sensitivity, the composition presents Salome as a richly adorned, contemplative figure, draped in flowing golden-brown fabric and accented with jewelled ornamentation.
Bellay’s confident handling of transparent washes creates a luminous surface and a refined sense of texture, while the restrained colour palette of warm ochres and soft flesh tones heightens the work’s sensual yet psychologically charged atmosphere. The presence of the sword, subtly marked with red, introduces an undercurrent of tension and moral ambiguity, characteristic of late 19th-century French interpretations of biblical subjects.
Signed by the artist in the lower right, this evocative work exemplifies Bellay’s engagement with theatrical, Orientalist themes and the era’s fascination with exoticised female protagonists. An accomplished and highly decorative watercolour, it would make a compelling addition to a collection of 19th-century French academic or biblical art.
For a full biography of this artist please see his listing on www.bigskyfineart.com .
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Big Sky Fine Art has dated this French Orientalist Watercolour Painting to the 1860s.
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Charles Bellay. Salome with Bloodied Sword. Framed 1860s French Orientalist Tradition Watercolour Painting.
