Artwork
H Beard Print Collection
H Beard Print Collection is a print by Fortunino Matania. It dates from 17 and is held in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum. The work is a print titled *The censored Salome at Covent Garden: In which the heroine apostrophises for an hour a head which is not there*.
About this work
The artist reused a scene from Strauss’s opera where she’s left talking to a head that isn’t there.
This print shows Salome in a tricky spot. The artist reused a scene from Strauss’s opera where she’s left talking to a head that isn’t there. The print was made in 1910, the same year Covent Garden cut that head from the show.
It’s a sharp glance at censorship in the opera world. The press called it out in The Sphere that same week.
If you want to see more of Matania’s prints, visit the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Overview
The work is a print titled *The censored Salome at Covent Garden: In which the heroine apostrophises for an hour a head which is not there*. Produced in 1910, it records a moment from Richard Strauss’s opera *Salome* when the infamous severed‑head scene was omitted from the Covent Garden production. The image was reproduced as a press illustration in the newspaper *The Sphere* the same year.
Subject & Meaning
The composition portrays the titular Salome addressing an empty space where the expected severed head would have stood. By highlighting the absence, the print comments on the effect of censorship on dramatic narrative, turning a moment of horror into a theatrical void that underscores the tension between artistic intent and institutional restriction.
Technique & Style
Executed as a black‑and‑white print, the image relies on line work and contrast to delineate Salome’s figure and the surrounding stage. The artist employs a slightly exaggerated posture to emphasize the character’s rhetorical gesture, while the stark background reinforces the sense of emptiness created by the censored element.
History & Provenance
The illustration first appeared in the 1910 issue of *The Sphere*, documenting the controversy surrounding the Covent Garden staging. It forms part of the H Beard Print Collection, a grouping of early twentieth‑century prints that includes other works addressing theatrical and cultural censorship.
Context
Strauss’s *Salome* provoked frequent bans due to its graphic climax, and the 1910 Covent Garden production responded by removing the decapitation scene. The print captures this specific alteration, reflecting broader debates in Edwardian Britain about morality, public performance, and the limits of artistic expression.
Artist & collection
Artist
Chevalier Fortunino Matania was an Italian artist noted for his realistic portrayal of World War I trench warfare and of a wide range of historical subjects.
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