Two beheadings and a haircut: The (mis) treatment of biblical women in Belle Époque painting
This thesis is playfully entitled “Two Beheadings and a Haircut” due to my focus on three biblical women: Salome and Judith, who each belong to a ‘beheading narrative’ and Delilah, who hacks off a man’s hair. Throughout this thesis, I examine nine diverse paintings from the Belle Epoque period and analyse why artists from an assortment of cultural movements approach these characters similarly; eroticising and vilifying them as femmes fatales. I will consider the artists’ respective motives for the (often drastic) modifications of biblical narratives and investigate why they emphasised or ignored specific facets of the characters’ pretextual and metatextual personalities. 
 
I will explore the biblical texts of each respective figure and her on-canvas life using three case studies per woman. I also approach these paintings while foregrounding the historical, social, and political contexts of each artist, and the influence such conditions had on their perceptions of women. This thesis is interdisciplinary in nature and I have conducted research into each artist’s life, the social movements and political situations of their countries, and their influences from literature, theatre, and other artists.